Soul Worth Saving
by YellowRogueRose
Summary: Alex Cabot stumbles upon a case, involving a daughter of a police officer. The case will draw herself and Casey Novak together as well as teach each of them how saving another can in turn mean they find their own saviour. (Rating Will Change)
1. A Soul In Need

_**Well, well, well what do we have here then? Well, we have someone posting their very first Law & Order SVU fan fiction.**_

 _ **I won't lie I am a little (extremely) nervous about posting this as I am not sure if anyone is going to be interested in this story but it's been an idea floating around in my head for a good while now and well I had to at least try and see what the response would be.**_

 _ **This is AU but with many of the same similarities from the show. I'm hoping you'll understand what I mean as you read and the further we get but if you do have any questions about anything at all please never feel shy in dropping me a message.**_

 _ **So this is an Alexandra Cabot story but as it progresses it will become a CALEX story. I personally love the idea of the two of them together and I can't wait to see how they progress as this story goes on. In the future there will be mature chapters shall we say but I will give plenty of fair warning before hand.**_

 _ **Now this is a story involving people who work for SVU so some of the storylines will be surrounding that world and fairly dark. I don't want to write anything to upset anyone so please remember this warning I guess that there are dark themes like you find in the show.**_

 _ **For now though I think that is enough of me so I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Soul Worth Saving**

 **Chapter 1**

" **A Soul In Need"**

For Alexandra Cabot leaving her office when most people were tucked up in bed or on their way home after a night worth remembering but would likely be forgotten due to alcohol was hardly new. For the stunning blonde in fact it was her normality and had been for many years at this point.

Ever since a young age the blue eyed Ms Cabot knew exactly where her life was heading, she knew her path and more importantly her destination. Now here she was in her early forties, her work life very much still on track and going as it should be. When it came to her personal life however the intelligent, strong willed ADA was very much just treading water.

As hard as the career focused woman tried to convince herself that her lack of a personal life didn't bother her, the envious glares her piercing blue eyes would send to co workers or friends when they spoke of their families or recent relationship developments told another story. Of course this was something that Alex found she was still able to ignore and suppress but it had crossed her mind, just how much longer would that be true?

To those she work with, apart from the few she had become close to and would consider friends, Alex was the definition of an 'Ice Queen'. For the most part it was true, when it came to her work and when she was doing battle in the court room for victims of unimaginable crimes, Alex Cabot was an 'Ice Queen', she had to be.

The determined attorney took her job seriously, she took her role as getting justice for victims of crime very much to her supposed ice heart. In order to make sure that justice was received meant a lot of the time that Alex had to keep herself guarded, stoic or perhaps even hard faced. She'd been called them all and more but never did that bother the ADA, in fact far from it. At the end of every day as long as Alex was able to return home and know she had done what needed to be done to get justice then people could think of her in whatever way they wished.

Alex's career was an easy 'get out of jail free' card that the successful attorney could draw as a cause of blame for the stagnant state of her life out of the court room. The fact she had been assigned almost exclusively to working with the Special Victims Unit cases for well over a decade now, was yet another well reasoned excuse to avoid taking any responsibility for her own. After all who would want to spend their evenings dealing with the striking blonde's turmoil over the sickening and heart wrenching cases she dealt with on a daily bases?

Alex feels the bitter wind slice through her slim figure as her walk back to her inherited brownstone comes to a thankful near end. She just had these next two blocks to clear and she'd finally be able to allow the lure of a warm bubble bath and glass of red take her over.

As her high heels rhythmically click against the sidewalk and echo throughout the otherwise relatively quiet block, the prosecutor ups her pace slightly. It was nearly two am now and after her bath and slap dash dinner, which had only one plus and that was the quick time it took to prepare, it would probably be more around three. With an early morning meeting with her boss the next day, the urgency to get home was now rather essential.

Passing one of the many brownstones on route to her own, the tall blonde hears a noise which quickly catches her attention. It almost sounded like a scream or shout but wasn't quite clear enough for the hardworking woman to fully make out. Stopping mid stride Alex turns in the direction the sound had come from and tires to pin point what could have possibly made it.

It wasn't as if hearing noises in New York in the middle of the night was so out of the ordinary but for some reason this noise had sent the hairs on the back of Alex's neck straight up. The cold wind sweeps around the ADA's long legs, her choice not to wear tights this morning now biting Alex in the ass.

"HELP!" The Sound repeats only this time loud enough to be understood as a desperate plea. The voice sounded young and instantly has the tired attorney's heart thumping inside her chest with extra speed.

Now able to narrow down just where the call for help had come from a little better, Alex's piercing blue eyes scan the row of brownstones before noticing an ajar front door. The model worthy blonde quickly makes her way towards it when another attempted plea is heard echoing from it.

"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!" This time the voice sounded defeated and was clearly struggling to overcome the emotions choking it. Even more worryingly though the voice was now without a doubt belonging to a child and a terrified one at that.

'I've got to help them, I can't stand by and do nothing when only god knows what is happening inside..' Alex's inner voice instructs the ADA as she frantically reaches into the large designer bag hanging off of her shoulder for her phone. She was going to help but from her work the blonde wasn't going to rush in there without back up of some kind being on the way.

It is only once Alex reaches the bottom of the stone stair case she notices an all too familiar stain leading in a trail from the open front door. It was obvious even in the darkness of the night that the puddle stains were blood and seemingly a fair amount of it too.

Biting the finger of her leather glove to yank it off in order to operate her phone, Alex throws her bag to the floor. Unsure if anyone dangerous was in the home was the only reason the prosecutor wasn't calling back out to the scared and frantic voice inside but it was getting a much harder urge to resist.

"Yes this is ADA Alexandra Cabot, I need police assistance and a bus to…" Alex speaks in a controlled but firm voice as she checks the number of the brownstone she was stood in front of and about to enter.

After giving the address and explaining the situation she had stumbled on to as quickly as she can, Alex finds herself completely ignoring the operators instructions for the tall blonde to wait for help to arrive.

'I know I should wait, I know that is what any sane person would probably even do but I just can't.' The always self conscious inner voice belonging to the ADA comments as Alex turns the flashlight on her phone on after hanging up and takes in a deep breath, she was doing this no matter what.

With a final look around the otherwise deserted block, nothing but the sharp wind blowing the odd piece of trash and the slight hum of the street lights to be seen or heard. It was two in the morning so it wasn't as though there would be anything else expected but considering what she was about to do, Alex thought she may as well check.

'You're going to need something to defend yourself with Alex encase whoever caused that blood flow is still inside.' The prosecutors mind instructs itself as a now slightly trembling Alex hesitates at the foot of the staircase and rummages through her bag once more.

Finding the small canister she was searching for Alex looks it over and has a mental debate if a can of pepper spray, gifted to her by her well meaning mother a few Christmas's back was really going to be of any use in this situation. Deciding it was better than being completely empty handed the tall blonde slips the spray in to the pocket of her coat and cautiously makes her way up the stone staircase and leans into the ajar front door in order to poke her head around.

Inside the upscale brownstone was pitch black but the trail of blood on the hardwood flooring was easy to spot with the help of the phone's flashlight. Everything seemed to be neat and together, no signs of any struggle or burglary that could be seen at least in the entry way.

With suddenly sweaty palms and a chest tightening by the second Alex spots a lamp on a table near the front door, likely for keys to be discarded on and shoes neatly stacked underneath. In no manner was it an ideal weapon choice but it would pack more of a punch than a tiny can of pepper spray and at least it was within reach without Alex putting herself in more danger. God knows she'd put herself in enough of that already.

Thankfully yanking the lead from its socket was relatively easy and soon the tall, hunched over blonde doing her best impression of a cat burglar was armed.

'What are you going to do with a lamp exactly Alex? Let's hope you can use it to block the bullets that are without a doubt about to be fired at you.' Alex's unhelpful inner voice berates the woman's choice of weapon but what choice did she have?

Deciding to ignore her mind's protests and any logic she may still be holding on to at this point, Alex follows the increasing amount of blood up the stairs of the brownstone to the second floor. Using the torch of her phone as her guide the ADA tentatively takes each step up the staircase which of course had to make as much noise as possible.

At this point Alex could hear the blood rushing in her ears with every beat of her heart as her knees begin to shake with the distinctive feeling this may not have been such a great idea after all.

"HELP ME PLEASE!" The voice screams again this time so much clearer but more desperate and Alex could tell every word was accompanied by tears. Any regret Alex was feeling to do with her choice to enter this house disappears simultaneously as it becomes clear the child calling for help was indeed upstairs.

The voice being that much louder now left no doubt that it belonged to a child and if her experience working with the Special Victims Unit had taught the prosecutor anything, then it likely belonged to a little girl. A possibly injured, terrified and crying little girl.

It was becoming impossible for Alex to remain silent, her instinct was to reassure the small child but years of working so closely with police kept her from doing so. The blonde attorney could not risk it when it was unclear who was in this house and the threat they posed.

"PLEASE!" The young girl's voice calls out once more only this time it was filled with a sense of helplessness, like she didn't believe her pleas were ever going to come to fruition. She was giving up, god only knows how long she had been calling out for at this point and the thought alone causes Alex's heart to plummet.

Alex had dealt with her fair share of young victims in her career as an ADA, all of them traumatized in some way but never had she heard a voice sound so full of utter terror and desperation, not even from an adult.

Now on the second floor of the home, Alex could not only hear the outcries for help from the young girl but the soul destroying sobs which echoed out before and after them. The child was breaking her heart crying and how she was able to suck in enough breath to call out was beyond the prosecutor. One thing the crying did, apart from thaw out the supposed ice queen's heart was guide Alex further along the second floor and towards another ajar door.

'You have to go in there Alex, this girl needs you. Just try and remember what Liv told you about entering a room.' Alex instructs herself within the confines of her mind as she stands straight and steadies herself to make her way into the room where this child's pleas and cries were emanating from.

Alex's blue eyes follow the torch's stream of bright light as the blonde uses her slim frame to her advantage by squeezing through the gap between the door and door frame. As the torch scans the room and lights up the shape of a bed, followed by a small girl on it, any memory of the lesson her lieutenant friend had once given her is completely forgotten.

'What sick person did this? Who could do something like this?' Alex questions silently as her mind attempts to understand just what she was seeing in front of her. Sadly the long time prosecutor knew the type of person capable of this and the answer was gut wrenching, a monster.

Being an ADA for as long as she had and especially working with the Special Victims Unit Alex had been privy to horrendous situations far too many times. This was different though because this time she was being forced to face such sickening horror up close and personal. Normally the case will have been worked, victims dealt with by professionals before Alex would even meet them and the initial depravity nothing more than testimony and crime scene photos.

This time however the long time representative for the justice system was in the position she was used to hearing about from her police friends and colleagues. The stunning blonde had always felt great sympathy and respect while listening to the horror tales that others had faced but nothing in the world could have prepared Alex for actually being in their shoes.

Crystal blue eyes continue to take in the scene in front of them, on the bed was a small figure, almost certainly the young girl whose cries had drawn Alex into the house to begin with. Her thin waist, legs and chest were all being held down on the mattress by what looked to be extremely tight restraints, possibly rope. It was a wonder this poor young girl was able to suck in enough breath to breathe let alone call out for help.

Instinct takes over for a now shaken ice queen as Alex's body moves independently of any thoughts and rushes to the girl's bedside. The sudden movement seems to make enough noise for the young girl to realise she was no longer alone.

"NO PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, I'M SORRY!" The voice frantically pleads as the slight movement she has on the bed she uses to jump nearly out of her skin.

The sound of the fear in the girl's voice rips through the usually composed prosecutor like a chainsaw and kicks Alex into action. Dropping the lamp from her hand to the ground, not thinking about the sudden crash sound it would make, Alex reaches towards the flinching child.

"It's okay sweetheart, I'm here to help you. You don't have to be scared." Alex attempts to assure the traumatised child in what ends up coming out as nothing more than a whisper. To be honest though the blue eyed woman was just shocked she had been able to formulate a single word at this point considering the tight sensation, which was increasing around her heart.

The mixture of a loud crash and an unfamiliar voice, which she had to strain to hear, has the small child letting out a strained scream. Her voice was horse from being in this position for what felt like years, not to mention the constant crying.

"Ah! No, please NO! AH!" The girl's voice jumps with each slight noise around her, she was completely helpless and far too aware of that fact not to be a jolting bag of nervousness and terror.

'Well done Alex, terrify this poor child even worse.' Alex mentally scolds herself as she physically flinches with each of the girl's squeaky screams. The admiration for her police friends was only growing by the second as the attorney is hit head on with what they faced on a daily basis.

Shaking her own thoughts from her mind the ADA reaches out with trembling, delicate hands for the girl's cheeks. The contact of course causes another flinch from both of them but it was all Alex could think to do to try and assure this poor little girl she wasn't going to harm her.

"I promise you I'm not going to hurt you, can you look at me sweetheart? Look, see I'm…" Alex trails off with her reassurances as now she is closer to the child the blonde's blue eyes finally notice this poor little girl is blindfolded as well as restrained.

The blindfold was drenched with tears but tied so tightly around the young girl's head it was a wonder that it hadn't cut off any and all blood circulation. Alex ghosts her fingers across the soaked through material, scared to touch the poor girl again but her heart demanding the prosecutor does something to at least make this child more comfortable, if that was even possible.

"My name is Alex, I work with the police and I'm going to help you okay? Are you hurt anywhere, is there anyone else here with you?" Alex questions as she is unable to help but go in to her lawyer mode and start to ask a thousand and one questions.

The young girl's body which was rigid from fear eases just slightly when she is told Alex works with the police but she is understandably still on a knife's edge. Gulping down the lump of tears, terror and exhaustion the child does her best to respond to this mystery woman's questions.

"My daddy is a policeman, he has a badge." The girl replies with a voice which sounded ready to give up entirely. It was obvious she was next to passing out and weaker than any human should be.

'Her father is a police officer? Oh my god what in the world has happened here?' Alex's inner voice questions as she feels the girl's head go limp in her hands, which had been barely making contact from fear of upsetting the little one.

Reaching behind the girl's head and entangling her fingers through locks of long hair which had been matted and caught within the blindfold Alex blindly attempts to undo the blood restricting knot. It takes the use of her well manicured nails but finally something gives and the blonde ADA is able to remove the drenched cloth from around this poor child's head.

"Okay honey, okay that's good. We got that nasty thing off alright? Can you look at me sweetheart? What's your name, what's your daddy's name?" Alex asks as the light her phone was still shining in to the room as it lies on the floor helps the prosecutor get a final good look at this traumatized child's face.

Her face was red from a mix of the tightness of the blindfold and the tears she had been sobbing for what Alex could only imagine was hours. The little one's hair was long and flowing, a dark brown which matched her eyes as they cautiously begin to squint open so the blonde can make them out. There were two indented lines running across the girl's face both at the top and bottom of where the blindfold had been embedded into her young skin.

Blinking a few times as her eyes are finally exposed to some form of light once again after being pressed inward by the blindfold, the girl starts to make Alex out. It was still an extremely dark room so the pain of the light wasn't too severe thankfully and didn't take too much adjusting. She was clearly exhausted though and struggling to keep herself conscious at this point, the sad truth being it was likely the adrenaline of the fear which had kept her this alert up until now.

There is an awkward silence between the pair as the little brunette clearly contemplates if revealing information about herself was the safe thing to do. Being so drained though left the child with little will to be able to keep quiet and she was just desperate for some form of help, any help.

Sensing the trepidation from this traumatised child Alex cautiously runs her hand down to the girl's nearest hand which was somewhat able to be reached underneath the tightened restraints over her wrists. Looking into those big brown eyes the prosecutor pleads silently for the girl to trust her enough at least to reveal her name.

"I'm…. I'm Savannah." She finally squeaks out, her voice strained and rough from the constant crying she had been doing.

Alex nods her head in understanding and does her best to give the trembling child a smile but considering the situation it doesn't meet her blue eyes which are covered with deep concern.

"Savannah? I really like that name, it's very pretty. Can you tell me your daddy's name?" The ADA presses slightly but is cautious as not to push the barely conscious child into clamming up completely.

"My daddy is Victor, Victor Bruno of precinct one, one, two, NYPD." Savannah reveals, after a shaky intake of breath as if encouraging herself to actually answer with the information that had been drilled in to her ever since she could remember.

Alex's free hand was cautiously feeling around the back of Savannah's head and trying to spot any sign of injury when the girl's words finally make it in to her consciousness. It stops the blonde dead in her tracks and leaves her reeling.

"Victor Bruno, Captain Victor Bruno, he is your daddy?" Alex asks for clarification as her mind struggles to comprehend the information she had just been told.

Softly the tall woman crouched beside the bed runs her fingertips down Savannah's damp and warm cheeks while staring deeply in to her dark orbs while awaiting some kind of answer that will confirm she hadn't misheard or misunderstood.

Alex not only knew Victor but she had worked with him and his team a fair few times in her career, especially early on before she worked more exclusively for SVU. How had she known this man for close to fifteen years and yet never met or even heard about his daughter, was she really that much of an ice queen?

Savannah's eyelids were quickly becoming like led as the adrenaline which had been fuelling her starts to taper out. All she can manage is a very faint nod of her head and fearful look which strangles at Alex's heart like a garrotte.

Sensing she was starting to lose the small brunette, Alex shuffles even closer to the bed frame and delicately runs her hand down Savannah's cheek. The hope was the contact would force the girl to look at her once more instead of allowing those eyelids to fall shut completely.

"Hey no Savannah, I need you to stay with me sweetheart. You're doing amazingly right now but I need to know where your daddy is, do you have any idea?" Alex questions with desperation to her voice which she normally was skilled at keeping all emotion out of.

"He was here when the…. The men… came." Savannah answers with a real effort as all she wanted to do was finally rest.

The shaken ADA nods her head in encouragement that Savannah was continuing to do a fantastic job and absorbs the information which without the young girl realising had revealed more on some of the back ground information of what happened before Alex had walked past on her way home.

"The men? What men Savannah, what can you tell me about them honey? How many of them were there?" Alex asks with a need to know as much as possible but this poor young girl had been through so much she was fading fast.

'Where is the damn back up and EMT's?!' Alex curses within the confines of her frantic mind as worry for this girl's health becomes paramount for the blonde.

"No, I'm sleepy." Savannah murmurs as she shakes her head slightly like a child not wanting to be woken ready to head to school. She was hanging on by a thread and it was sending terror through the ADA's heart like she had never experienced in her life before.

Shaking her head from fear Alex gently holds both of her hands onto Savannah's young cheeks and fights the growing urge within her chest to cry. Alex Cabot didn't cry, at least not in front of anyone else but something about this little girl, this situation was hitting the ice queen directly in her frozen heart.

"I know you are Savannah, I know but I still need your help okay? Come on darling, you can do this just stay awake a little bit longer for me. Please Savannah." Alex speaks softly into the girl's ear before taking a breath and in a moment of desperation pleads with the small brunette.

'To her credit she is trying to keep those beautiful eyes open.' The inner voice of the long term ADA comments as Alex fights to keep her emotions in check just as the sound of sirens outside the home come in clearly and are quickly followed by footsteps rapidly climbing the stone staircase leading into the brownstone.

"Ms Cabot are you okay?! Is anyone injured or in danger?" A voice echoes up from the first floor and Savannah gives up on trying to keep her eyes open and instead clamps them shut from fear and her young body tenses once more under the death like grip of her restraints.

Stroking back some of Savannah's long hair to try and soothe the traumatized child, Alex leans down and just closes her own eyes for a moment. It was a silent plea to whoever may be able to help for the ADA to find the words in this moment and to know just what she should do.

"It's okay Savannah, it's the police. They are going to help us and find out where your daddy is. I just need you to be brave for me and hold on just a little bit longer and we're going to get you out of here. Can you do that for me sweetheart?" Alex whispers her words not wanting to cause the little brunette anymore upset if she could help it.

Savannah blindly and faintly nods her head but her hand which was able to somewhat flex under the restraints reaches for Alex's hand and squeezes with all strength the young brunette has left in her body once she feels the contact be made. It was a silent plea for this kind, blonde haired stranger to stay with her, to not leave her alone in the darkness again.

Alex feels her already aching heart shatter at the actions of this poor little girl and just instantly nods in agreement. Of course Savannah couldn't see the motion but it was instinctive for the prosecutor as she returns the squeeze of the small girl's hand to communicate that she understood and wouldn't be going anywhere. Never in her life before had Alex felt such a strong urge to protect someone else and she wasn't about to let Savannah down any time soon.

"I'm going nowhere Savannah, just … hold my hand as tightly as you need. Stay awake though for me, please sweetheart I really need you to stay awake. Everything will be okay." Alex assures with a strength to her voice that comes from seemingly nowhere but does its job in convincing the terrified, small, brunette whose hand Alex now clasped protectively inside her own.

The sounds of the officers clearing the first floor of the premises echo up to the second floor and Alex realises she needs to respond to them and let them know what is going on, even if she isn't entirely sure herself. Taking in a deep breath and watching as Savannah keeps her eyes tightly skewed shut and a death like grip on the older woman's hand, Alex braces herself and goes in to ADA mode.

"Second floor, second door on the right. We have a child restrained to the bed as the result of a possible home invasion. Her father is Captain Victor Bruno of the one, one, two. Whereabouts unknown. I haven't searched the rest of the house, so assailants may also be hiding." Alex rattles out with her court room voice as it was almost an auto pilot reaction for the prosecutor and a way of dealing with this situation.

Alex looks at Savannah and by the way her eyes are still so tightly skewed shut the blonde can tell she hasn't yet fallen asleep. It was a relief but she knew it wouldn't be something the poor exhausted girl would be able to keep up for much longer.

"Where are those EMT's, this girl needs help, now." Alex shouts out, this time a little louder and with more attitude as her concern for Savannah takes over her behaviour.

'This is a the daughter of a NYPD captain, who did this and why would they go to these lengths? Victor had to be the target here, he just had to be. I truly hope that blood I found doesn't belong to him.' Alex internally attempts to make some sense of the limited information she had so far, once you learn to think that way it was next to impossible to turn off.

The EMT's burst into the room mere seconds later, causing Savannah to jump, well as much as she could when tied so tightly to the bed and so weak. Her small hand jerks to snap away from Alex's grip but the blonde wasn't going to let that happen and so wraps her free hand around the tiny, shaking hand as well as the one Savannah had been squeezing for dear life.

"It's okay Savannah, they are here to help you. I'm here beside you and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you alright?" Alex assures meaning every single word as it falls from her thin lips.

The prosecutor's words are interrupted by the light of the room being switched on. It's like looking directly into the sun for a few moments as Alex squints and recoils from the momentary pain that rips through her eyes. Still keeping her place beside Savannah though and holding her hand, Alex finally allows her blue eyes to open fully and it's only then she sees the dried blood on Savannah and splattered across the mattress she was tied to.

A gasp is all the seasoned ADA can manage as she realises all this time Savannah had been injured and hadn't once let on. The sight of the blood turns Alex's stomach and when she sees the forming bruises, welts and marks across Savannah's upper arms and legs, which were only slightly covered by tattered and ripped jeans, the grown woman nearly gags.

'For the love of god, how did I not see this?!' Alex berates herself as her crystal blue eyes struggle to take in the sight in front of her.

It wasn't as though Alex hadn't seen her fair share of gruesome things in her career but that was always in crime scene photos or healing injuries suffered by a victim, this was new territory for the prosecutor.

The restraints were clearly rope now the lights were on full brightness and they were digging so tightly into Savannah's olive skin it was no doubt that they had at least contributed to the blood. Her clothing was ripped and stained, a jumper which was hanging off of her shoulders with oversized sleeves, rolled up above her wrists by the restricting ropes.

One of the paramedics approaches the bed, his eyes full of concern as he looks the small girl over and for a brief second shares a knowing glance with the blonde ADA still knelt beside the bed and holding Savannah's small hand, which was likely losing feeling by now because of the rope.

"We need to get her free and to the hospital fast Ms Cabot." The paramedic explains the obvious as he tentatively crouches down beside Alex and rips open his bag for something to release the poor girl of her restraints.

Savannah was awake but only barely at this point. Her entire body flinches as she hears something about a hospital but she just isn't strong enough to do much else, not even open her eyes. After everything her young body had been through she was running out of any sort of fight, the very fight which had alerted Alex to her situation and likely saved her young life.

"Hey, hey Savannah it's okay. Remember I said these people were going to help you and get you free? Well, that's what they're going to do now and then take you to the hospital so they can make you feel better." Alex attempts to explain what was happening to the little brunette but all it does is causes Savannah to fight against the restraints from utter fear.

'Way to go Alex, terrify her even more.' Alex mentally chastises herself before she instinctively reaches out and slaps away the paramedic's hand as he reaches out to try and prevent Savannah from hurting herself and further.

"Don't touch her, she's clearly terrified. Just, just let me talk to her." Alex admonishes the paramedic with a steely glare which had sent many a defence attorney whimpering back to their seat with their tail between their legs.

Holding his hands up defensively the paramedic nods in agreement and shimmies back slightly on his knees giving the striking blonde more room. The injured girl was still riving under her restraints with a burst of energy which could only be coming from her fear.

"Savannah, sweetheart you don't have to be scared. I'm still right here next you and guess what you can hold my hand and squeeze it as hard as you want and if they hurt you, just tell me and I swear I will make them stop. I know you're tired honey but if you can just be brave one more time then we can get you somewhere comfortable and you can finally rest." Alex coos tenderly as she uses one hand to gently hold the young girl's shoulder and hopefully stop her movements.

Despite her clear trepidation and trembling body, Savannah lets it known she understands what Alex is saying and agrees by her body relatively relaxing again into the mattress and her hand squeezing the blonde's with a shaky breath exiting her lungs.

Letting out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding, Alex nods with relief and just motions for the paramedic to do what he had to do to get this poor little girl free of this cruel torture. Sniffling back the tears which had snuck up on the ADA, the blonde rubs the back of the tanned, little hand which her other hand is being squeezed by.

"That's it Savannah. Just squeeze like that alright? I'm here sweetheart, I'm right here." Alex assures as she breathes out slowly and her blue eyes watch the paramedics move as fast but as safely as they can to cut the ropes which were withholding Savannah and set her free.

'Just get her free from that bed so she can be seen to, please.' Alex pleads within the confines of her own mind as she watches each rope get cut and thrown to the side. They had been tightened so taught as each one is cut the sound is almost like a pluck of a string on an instrument.

The marks left behind on Savannah's tanned skin were deep and raw, the blonde could only imagine the pain it was causing this brave little girl but Savannah wasn't letting on above squeezing Alex's hand with all the strength she has remaining.

Once all the ropes are cut the paramedics grab the gurney and move to transfer the weak and badly battered child over but they were clearly cautious seeing how utterly terrified this little brunette was. As they look to Alex for permission, the prosecutor just gulps and blinks back unshed tears which were now swimming within her crystal orbs.

"Savannah, you're free now honey. The paramedics need to take you to the hospital now though so a doctor can make all this pain go away and clean you up. Will you let them lift you onto a special bed to take you down to the ambulance?" Alex asks trying to give this poor child as much control as possible in this situation because she'd had all control taken away from her for too long.

Savannah cringes with every word the ADA speaks but was too weak to fight and so lets her head ever so faintly nod. A whimper escapes her lungs though as Alex moves to stand from her knelt position on the hardwood flooring of the bedroom. It's a noise that slices through the supposed ice heart of Alex Cabot and brings the blonde right back down with a thud.

"Don't… leave…. Alex, please." Savannah's voice is as quiet as can be but that doesn't stop every word hitting the prosecutor like a freight train and sends her heart into a missed beat.

Alex had never known an urge or feeling so strong in her life before but before her brain gets the chance to even contemplate the child's desperate, begging words the tall blonde is shaking her head and stroking some locks back from Savannah's head.

"I'm not leaving you, I'm going to be by your side the entire time. I promise." Alex assures in a voice she almost doesn't recognise as seemingly that is all Savannah needs to hear before she nods once more and allows the paramedics to transfer her to the gurney.

Alexandra Cabot didn't make promises in her life unless she intended to keep them and this promise was the one she would keep come hell or high water.

* * *

 _ **FYI: Casey makes her debut in the next chapter, encase anyone actually wants to see a next chapter.**_

 _ **Eek, there we go. My first chapter of Law & Order SVU fan fiction down. It was long I know but I do write long chapters and truth be told they will only get longer the further along I get with this story. **_

_**I write long chapters for a few reasons mainly because I can never seem to get what I want to have written out in anything short. Also I like to have time to really write my chapters, get the emotions of the characters and the situations so they become immersive (at least I try to do these things haha) and that means I don't update every few days it normally takes weeks and sometimes a month (only if I get to twenty thousand words a chapter, which is what another of my stories is at currently so yeah, I guess I'm kind of crazy). Because of the wait between chapters I want to give you all something substantial that will hold you over and not leave you hanging around with nothing to digest. Please don't get me wrong though, I do everything in my power to get each chapter I write for any of my stories out as fast as humanly possible but I never want to rush and then put something out that isn't all that good or lets any of you down. I write this for you all to enjoy and I really give each chapter I write everything I have to hopefully ensure that.**_

 _ **Now I just want to say in advanced, thank you to those of you who take the time to read this story of mine. I truly hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. An even bigger thank you goes to those of you who leave me a review (If any of you are kind enough to do so). I really cannot tell you how helpful having feedback is to me. Knowing what you think, feel, want to see, suspect, don't want to see, so on and so forth is priceless information for me as it means I can hopefully create something for you that you will continue to really enjoy. (Or begin to enjoy whatever the case may be)**_

 _ **Also please never feel shy in telling me any ideas you may have, I can't promise I will do them but if I like them and I can work them in (maybe with some tweaks here and there) then I damn sure will and happily so. Like I said I really want to create something you will enjoy reading and the more ideas to make that happen, truly the better.**_

 _ **So you may have noticed I have a tendency to go on too much, I'll save you more of my rambling and just say until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	2. Conversations In Smoke

**_Soooo, I want to say thank you to the one person who took the time to leave me a review of the first chapter. It really means a lot and honestly got this chapter up._**

 ** _Obviously I'm really not sure if people are at all in to this story but I thought I'd at least add the chapter that involves both Olivia and Casey._**

 _ **I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

" **Conversations In Smoke"**

The ride to the hospital is nothing more than a blur for Alex as all she can do is keep her hand securely around the much smaller, fragile and tanned one belonging to Savannah. The young girl's grip would fade in and out along with the brunette's consciousness, now she was free from the bed and on her way to hospital all of that adrenaline which had been fuelling her had quickly subsided. Alex was determined though, any time Savannah did regain her bearings enough to be aware of her surroundings, the blonde ADA was right there next to her, just like she had promised.

The EMT had kept a close eye on the child's vitals and done his best to keep Savannah comfortable throughout the journey. She was dehydrated and had lost a significant amount of blood but clearly the young girl was a fighter as she held her own until they reached the hospital who were already waiting for her arrival.

'Why can't I stop myself from wondering just what else this poor girl has suffered through tonight? The indications on her body are that of a violent assault but how far and depraved did this assault go? Where is her father, did the animals who did this to Savannah take him? There didn't seem to be any news of him being found back at the brownstone, so what other possibilities are there?' Alex inwardly starts to look at the situation she found herself in the middle of through the eyes of a prosecutor. She'd always been the kind of person that needed an answer to everything in order to make sense of things and this was no exception.

The exhausted blonde finds her gaze being drawn from Savannah for a brief moment as the paramedic jumps up from his seat in order to open the back doors of the ambulance. It is only in this moment that Alex realises the ambulance has become stationary and obviously arrived at the hospital.

'At least now the professionals can look Savannah over and tend to her injuries. How she has held on for as long as she has is nothing short of a miracle.' The inner conversation Alex was having continues as the paramedics begin to remove Savannah from the ambulance.

As the wheels of the gurney clank down onto the cold concrete of the ambulance arrival area, Alex feels herself awoken from her inner conversation and smack back into reality. Her long legs feel like noodles of cooked pasta as high heels meet with the ground once more but her pale, delicate hand somehow keeps its cocooned like presence around Savannah's much smaller counterpart.

A team of doctors weren't the only waiting people to greet the ambulance as it pulled up, by now one person Alex worked with almost daily had also arrived. After what they had found at the brownstone the patrol had made a call to the Special Victims Unit and the team's lieutenant had been alerted to the situation.

Olivia Benson and Alex had been intertwined within their career from almost each of their first day's on the job. Of course back when they had first met Olivia had been merely just a detective with a few years experience with SVU and Alex a headstrong ADA looking to progress her career. Fifteen years later and the two women were close friends as well as work colleagues and it was because of this relationship that when Olivia got the call she instantly rushed to the hospital. The fact this was a case concerning a Captain of the NYPD meant that Olivia would be handling this very hands on anyway but when she'd been informed about Alex's involvement the brunette lieutenant jumped to attention just that much faster.

Spotting a shaken looking ADA emerge from the back of the ambulance causes Olivia to rush over. Concern was lodged within in her dark orbs as only rarely had she seen Alexandra Cabot looking anything close to this. Those times had been few and far between and normally to do with some god awful sickness that the prosecutor refused to allow to beat her.

"Alex." Olivia calls out in order to gather the tall blonde's attention as the team of doctors swarm around the young child's gurney and almost swallow Alex in the mix.

Hearing her name called by a familiar voice Alex's blue eyes look above the sea of doctors and spot one of the only true friends the attorney had ever known, not to mention one of, if not the most trustworthy and honest cops.

"Liv, oh thank god you're here." Alex breathes out in relief, the stinging emotions still lingering within the prosecutors eyes glimmering in the reflection of her large framed glasses as Olivia gets closer.

'Has she been crying? That can't be right.' Olivia mentally corrects what she is seeing with her own eyes but is forced to admit that the normally steely persona of one of her oldest friends has seemingly been shattered.

Feeling torn between the presence of the lieutenant and her continued grip of Savannah's hand Alex finds herself running alongside the gurney as it barrels down the corridors of the busy hospital. The promise to stay with the injured child was something the ADA was going to keep, even if it did mean nearly breaking her neck by running in heels not meant for such activity.

Knowing all too well from her long career working in such situations, Olivia rushes after the crowd as it would only be mere moments before Alex is forced to hang back and allow the doctors to do their jobs. This was likely not going to be something the blonde would want to comply with and if anyone knew how next to impossible it could be to deter one Alexandra Cabot, Olivia knew these doctor's would need some form of back up.

"What? No I will not leave her. I promised her I would stay with her and I intend to do so. Now let me through." Alex protests with an icy tone as the thankfully strong willed nurse attempts to block the ADA's entrance into the trauma unit to be with Savannah.

'Oh dear lord she isn't going to let this go without a fight and going by the fact she's using her 'court room' voice I'm going to bet Alex has no intention of losing.' Olivia realises silently as she manages to squeeze through the commotion and take hold of her friend's upper arm and tug her back and away from the nurse just trying to do his job.

"Okay Alex, come on honey. You need to let them do their job now, she's in the best place and we can wait out here for her." Olivia explains with a sympathetic tone but grip that told the blonde ADA she wouldn't be taking no for an answer.

Ready to protest her friend's touch and deceiving strength, Alex snaps her head around like a snake about to strike but thankfully softens once eye to eye with the lieutenant. It took a lot to get the normally collected attorney to this pitch but after what she had seen in that bedroom Alex was on edge to say the least.

Nodding her head in reluctant acceptance her friend was right, Alex crosses both of her arms strongly over her chest and looks with deep concern towards to the treatment area where Savannah was now all alone. The team of doctors were working on her and despite a gut aching desire to be in there Alex knew the injured child was where she needed to be.

Slowly letting out a breath of relief that the ADA had seemingly calmed down enough so they could talk properly, Olivia rubs both hands soothingly up and down Alex's tensed arms. The two share a knowing look and recognition hits the blonde like a bolt of lightning as if she was only just realising it was Olivia stood in front of her despite their earlier interaction.

"What are you doing here Liv, what about Noah?" Alex questions the brunette lieutenant knowing how rare it was for Olivia to leave her son at such a time of night, well morning.

Shaking her head to try and defuse some of the attorney's worry, Olivia just gives an assuring smile and guides the two of them towards some seats that looked in towards the room Savannah had just been taken in to.

"He is with Lucy. When I found out you were at the scene and coming in with the victim there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to be anywhere but here." Olivia explains softly as Alex relents and sinks down in to the rather uncomfortable plastic chair.

It was closing in on four in the morning when Olivia had gotten the call and so her, thankfully flexible, babysitter was called in to watch the lieutenant's young son, Noah. It was something the brunette tried to do as little as possible at such times of the night but in this case Olivia had made an exception.

Alex softly nods her head with a gratefulness evident in her sapphire eyes along with the gut wrenching concern currently eating her alive. The long time prosecutor felt helpless as she sat on the plastic chair which would without a doubt cause a nagging pain by the end of this night.

"Is there any news on her father or his whereabouts?" Alex questions the lieutenant as the switch flips inside her brain as a way of distracting herself from the unrelenting waiting for news on Savannah.

Not at all shocked by the fact the blonde had suddenly switched gears into ADA mode, Olivia shakes her head with a sigh. This was a mess and it was only going to get worse once the news broke that an NYPD Captain was missing and suspected to be injured from a vicious home invasion.

"Finn and Carisi are working the scene as we speak but there is no sign of Captain Bruno anywhere inside. They did find more blood in his bedroom though as well as signs of a struggle. Crime techs are combing through everything but it's looking as though the Captain was taken and likely having suffered serious injuries." Olivia answers honestly, the call she'd taken with her sergeant having taken place mere moments before the ambulance arrived.

Alex shakes her head from side to side, she almost couldn't believe what she was hearing and yet of course she could. The attorney had been in the system long enough to know things like this weren't all that uncommon but to actually find herself in the middle of it was definitely a new sensation to say the least.

Olivia nods in agreement at her friends non verbal reaction and just reaches out and gently grips Alex's hand which by now had slipped to rest on her skirt clad lap. The lieutenant in the brunette knew there were a hundred different questions that had to be asked and Alex's statement would have to be taken sooner rather than later but for this exact moment the friend side of Olivia wins out and she just attempts to offer some form of comfort to the clearly shaken 'Ice Queen'.

Alex takes in an almost painful breath as her head bows to look at the offering of support from her friend. It was the sort of kindness the ADA had come to expect from the woman beside her and yet unfortunately it does little to ease Alex's over working mind.

"They had her tied to that bed like some kind of animal, Liv." Alex breathes out her words as though just speaking them caused pain. They did, well the memories of what she had seen flashing across the blonde's mind caused pain, a bitter sinking deep within Alex's stomach and heart.

Olivia had seen her fair share of horrific things in her career and she knew all too well no words she could ever come up with would be of any help to her friend. Pushing her long brown locks from her face with one hand the lieutenant nods regretfully and just gives a soft pat to the councillor's knee and stands from her seat.

"I'll go and see if I can get us some coffee that doesn't suck." Olivia announces quietly, one hand slipping in to the back pocket of her thrown on jeans and a look of great sympathy being offered towards the ADA.

As the sound of Olivia's footsteps fade into the distance of the busy hospital, Alex's eyes like a sniper's laser beam focus onto the doors of the treatment area she had been banned from entering.

'There is a little girl, terrified, horrifically traumatised and injured in there all by herself and I am sat here waiting as though a train has been delayed.' The inner conversation within Alex's mind starts up now she is left alone once more and it twists her insides uncomfortably from knowing she had broken her promise.

For the next thirty minutes or so chaos reigns down on the already over worked hospital as the news of the situation breaks. Fellow police officers and officials begin to flood the waiting area and the social media news flashes begin to blow up the blonde lawyer's phone.

Looking at the stream of notifications, missed calls and texts as they flood her screen, the tired ADA just shakes her head and removes her glasses as her eyes shut from exhaustion and also frustration. Olivia had been pulled away to talk with some higher ups in the police department and try and assure them that her team was more than sufficient to bring answers to this puzzle.

For Alex everything going on around her was nothing more than a daze, plenty of faces had attempted to talk with her but she had seemingly shut down. Even though sat in the world's most uncomfortable plastic chair, her coat draped over her lap and bag by her feet the prosecutor was focused on one thing and one thing only and that was the doors of the treatment room. Her mind was willing them to open with news of the young girl's condition but so far all that had happened was the entering and exiting of different hospital staff, all in a rush.

The overflowing waiting area was now almost entirely a sea of blue and for the on edge prosecutor it was becoming suffocating. Her view of the treatment area was almost entirely blocked and Alex was close to losing it, something she couldn't afford to do, especially in this climate.

'Maybe some fresh air will be of some help.' Alex's mind suggests as an inward debate rages for the blonde lawyer on if she should move herself even further away from keeping her promise. A third foot accidently stomping onto her high heeled protected toes was the straw that breaks the camel's back however and leaves the ADA with only one choice.

Despite her guilt Alex gathers her coat and bag and takes route to the exit. Her journey was nothing less than a maze as she attempts to navigate her thin frame through the shoulder to shoulder police brethren all collecting and waiting for news on the child of one of their own.

Finally though she makes it into the now breaking morning fresh air and inhales one large breath. Even with the caffeine kindly given to her by Olivia, the tall prosecutor was finding her flagging energy hard to fight.

How in the world her journey home after a tiring day at work had lead to this, was far beyond the reach of Alex's sleep deprived brain at this time. It was something she was pondering though, as her back uses the brick wall of the hospital for a resting post. Reaching into her bag for a piece of gum or perhaps a half eaten protein bar to sustain her through the rest of this day, Alex notices her near dying phone continue to flash and buzz with activity.

'Oh no, I am not suffering with this any longer. If my bosses want answers then they can do like the rest of us and make their way down here.' Alex mentally informs herself as she fumbles, with now chilled hands, to switch the damn phone off.

With the screen of her phone turning to black Alex feels a massive surge of relief as a huge weight feels removed from her shoulders. With an exasperated sigh the feared attorney flings her head back, forgetting for a moment about the solid wall waiting behind her. As the smack ripples through her head and brain the tall woman's knees almost give out completely but Alex Cabot's lungs most certainly do not.

"Son of a BIT-" Alex's voice travels through the still cold, early morning air of the ambulance bay area when she is cut off by a familiar and always beautiful face seemingly appearing out of nowhere in front of her.

"Well, I didn't think someone like Alexandra Cabot used language like that. I should have filmed it, would have won myself a lot of money." Casey Novak teases with that smile lingering on her lips which no one could ignore or deny.

The fellow ADA was holding her business briefcase in one hand, her coat tightly wrapped around her womanly figure and free hand loosely placed in the coat's pocket. Casey's head was titled slightly to the side and her long hair was partially tucked in by her deep pink, knitted scarf.

"Technically counsellor I didn't say the offending word, you interrupted me. You really should know better Casey." Alex retorts with the same joking tone to her voice. Despite what had and was happening it as a relief to at least try and be light hearted.

The two ADA's had met almost five years previously when a headstrong and motivated Ms Novak was first hired by the DA's office. The fresh and wet behind the ears attorney had made a wave the second she arrived and rubbed a few people the wrong way with her over eagerness but Casey was a quick learner and soon found her groove as well as her colleagues respect with only a few bumps in the road along the way.

Since then for the most part the two women had been on the small talk conversations and nods of acknowledgements to one another when passing in the hallway type of relationship. Casey tended to go where she was needed as an ADA, as oppose to Alex who had basically been assigned almost solely to SVU, so their interaction was limited.

Casey gives a nod of defeat towards the tall blonde and a smile which for some reason calmed Alex's demeanour. The younger of the two women, all by five years, makes the final few steps closer to the blue eyed ADA as she rubs at the sore bump on the back of her head.

"Not to sound rude but why exactly are you here Casey?" Alex questions, the irritation in her voice a result of the pain she had self inflicted more so than anything to do with Casey. That wall truly was solid as hell.

Dismissing the slightly taller woman's tone Casey raises her immaculate shaped eyebrow and shrugs her shoulders while standing now not three feet in front of the exhausted blonde.

"Well, I was summoned by some of the higher ups. This is going to need a prosecutor at some point and I like to be very hands on with my cases as you know." Casey explains, her slightly raspy voice causing Alex to listen just that little more intently.

Casey turns in one movement and rests her back against the cold, brick wall of the hospital beside Alex. Her fairly tame high heeled shoes cross at the ankle and an almost satisfied sigh leaves her lungs. Both of her arms were now folded down in front of her while holding her brief case on top of her thighs.

Turning her head to the fellow prosecutor, Alex's thin eyebrow raises above the frame of her large, stylish glasses. Casey's demeanour was something the nicknamed 'Ice Queen' found both intriguing and confusing.

'She has an energy about her that I am not quite sure I've ever recognised before. It's almost care free and childlike?' Alex surmises her surprising new finding silently as her crystal blue eyes continue to study the ever so slightly shorter woman beside.

"I like what you've done with your hair." Alex announces both to Casey's shock and her own. Where that statement had come from the tired blonde had no idea but it was out there now so all she could do was act like she'd intended to blurt it out.

Naturally the slightly less experienced ADA's hair was a deep red but she had dyed it to more of a strawberry blonde. It was something that normally Alex wouldn't pay any mind to but for some reason in the crack of dawn light of the ambulance arrival area, it catches the prosecutors attention.

The compliment causes Casey to smile brightly, her pearly white teeth almost twinkling like in some kind of toothpaste commercial. If it wasn't for the fact Alex knew better she could have sworn she sees the slightest of blushes rising on the strawberry blonde's cheeks.

"Thank you, you're actually the first person to make any comment and I did it two weeks ago. I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake." Casey reveals with a chuckle before locking her hazel eyes in on Alex's and the mood between the two women shifts.

Alex feels a shiver run up her spine as Casey stares directly into her crystal blue eyes. With a slight change in the rhythm of her breathing the blonde of the two attorneys shakes her head in disagreement with Casey's fear of having made a mistake.

"Far from it. I've seen you with a few different styles and honestly I can say you've never made a wrong choice.' Alex assures, once again her words leaving her lips without any pre thought or consideration.

'Alex, what in the hell is wrong with you?! You sound like some middle school boy with his first crush attempting to talk to the hot teacher. Apparently you are in need of sleep more than you thought.' Alex chastise herself silently, a sudden sensation of vulnerability overcoming her.

Casey feels her cheeks tighten from her smile growing at her colleague's words and mentally thanks the gods for the fact it was still cold enough outside to mask the sudden rush of heat to her cheeks.

Pinching at the bridge of her nose, underneath her glasses, Alex takes in a deep breath and decides that it was no longer safe for her to speak. Instead the slightly older of the two women allows their conversation to fall silent but is surprised when it is actually still a comfortable atmosphere between them.

The noises of the city were an oddly soothing backdrop for the ADA's as they stand in the midst of the chilly, New York breeze and early morning temperature. Alex was trying to regain some composure and Casey couldn't help her hazel eyes from watching every slight action of the slightly taller woman beside her.

'Alexandra Cabot is not someone who needs to be taken care of but I've also never seen that look in her eyes before. It may be the end of me but I need to make sure she's okay.' Casey's inner voice contemplates her next move before saying to hell with it and just taking a chance.

"So I'm going to guess no one has been brave enough to ask you how you're holding up yet. Am I right?" The slightly younger woman questions with a knowing gleam locked in her gaze which sends an odd tug to Alex's chest.

It certainly had not been what the blonde attorney thought the fellow lawyer would ask but Alex finds herself deeply touched by it all the same. It was true, no one had asked her yet how she was doing but she understood why they hadn't. She was Alex Cabot, she was always okay, always had to be.

"Well, I am standing here in the cold, avoiding uniformed pen pushers and the constant phone calls of my bosses. I have a young child's dry blood on my knees and the little girl I promised to stay with is in a treatment room all by herself." Alex answers much more openly than she had intended but at this point she was far too tired to beat around the bush.

Nodding with understanding and sympathy for her fellow prosecutor, Casey holds her hand out and rubs up and down Alex's thinly covered arm. She was only in her skirt and a silk blouse, her coat draped over her arm from where she'd gathered it when making her escape from the waiting area.

Turning and looking straight ahead, the view in front of them a mix of trees and then the early morning skyline, Casey leans her head over towards Alex and allows her hand to delicately pat the much colder one of the 'Ice Queen's'.

The touch of the strawberry blonde ADA's hand causes Alex's model like stance to falter, just for a microsecond and a white heat seemingly spreads across her body. Crystal blue eyes grow in size and the supposed 'Ice Queen' is sure she finds her breathing suddenly become more of a struggle.

Not sure what in the world just happened to her, Alex blinks slowly a few times as she watches Casey's hand slip back down to holding her briefcase in front of her toned legs. The younger ADA was in her pencil skirt but even so her womanly figure couldn't be hidden or dampened.

"You're still here aren't you? I'd say that promise is still intact and knowing you or at least knowing your reputation I think it's safe to say you won't be breaking it anytime soon." Casey pointedly retorts against Alex's statement as if she was testifying, her voice full of conviction and truth.

Once more Alex finds herself taken back by the younger woman's words. Feeling the warmth of Casey's hand brush over the back of hers is an odd comfort Alex hadn't been aware she needed but found herself extremely thankful for all the same. The fact by now the warmer hand had returned to its previous position on the briefcase has the taller ADA's stomach dropping with an almost longing sensation.

'What in the world is happening right now?' Alex mentally questions as her mind goes into a whirlwind as she continues to use the wall behind her to keep herself standing.

"Is there any news on Savannah's father?" The blonde asks deciding changing the subject may be of some help. At least when the conversation was work related Alex felt comfortable and assured she was back in control and knew what to do.

Casey shakes her head sadly as she also relaxes more into the wall, her stance indicating she was going nowhere.

'Had to know that question was coming, this is Ms Cabot after all.' Casey remarks to herself before turning back to face Alex who was now in full ADA mode.

"There are teams out searching, SVU still at the scene along with crime techs and obviously the brass pulling out all the stops to find him. So far though, all they have is the brownstone and blood to go on, well that and Savannah and whatever she told you." Casey explains wishing she had something more to reveal but they were coming up empty so far.

Sighing hard from frustration the slightly taller woman shakes her head and rubs along her heavy feeling forehead. This was going to be a nightmare of a case, everything in Alex's experience and just overall gut feeling was screaming that at her and had been since she first stumbled into it.

"Damn it. All she told me was her father was there when the men arrived. I tried to push her further but she was barely hanging on as it was." Alex answers knowing so far they had what amounted to a huge pile of nothing.

Casey instinctively reaches her hand out to rest on Alex's arm once again but stops as a shock runs through her body almost like an electric pulse. For the slightly younger woman it is something she hadn't experienced before but sends her heart into overdrive for a few seconds. Shaking the sensation off, the younger ADA just takes in a breath and nods her head.

"Listen, Victor Bruno is an NYPD Captain they are going to pull out all the stops on this. This is one of their own, heads are going to roll and fast." Casey comments trying to put some kind of positivity in this situation, which was not easy to say the least.

Casey falls silent and returns to looking up at the rising morning sun and slightly bounces back and forth on her feet. It was a move a child would do when bored but for the strawberry blonde prosecutor it was a way of releasing some of the energy pent up inside her.

"I worked with the Captain a few times, he's… intense but fair. He is also a tower of a man, got to be somewhere along six-five or six-six. Had to be more than one, probably two people who did this considering they contained the girl as well." Casey thinks out loud, deciding looking at this like a prosecutor may be helpful for Alex and take her mind off of the horrific scene she'd been dragged in to.

Alex notices the attempt from her fellow lawyer and is truly grateful for it. She offers a warm smile to Casey as the slightly shorter woman continues to look up at the skyline, just beyond the hospital's perimeter trees.

'How is it she seems to know me so well?' Alex's mind questions as for a moment her eyes become distracted in observing Casey's distinctive profile.

Realising her gaze was lingering on the strawberry blonde's plump lower lip, Alex quickly refocuses and gives a nudge for her glazes to shift back up her nose. ADA Cabot was in control now and taking over, whatever this version of Alex was doing was not helpful to anyone.

"Savannah said men so definitely more than one. The blood was in a trail down the stairs and out of the front door on to the street. Olivia said they found more blood in the Captain's bedroom and signs of a struggle. So they made their way in, attacked the Captain in his bedroom, probably asleep?" Alex answers, running through a potential scenario of what happened before she stumbled on to the scene.

Casey nods her head in agreement with what the theory the more seasoned ADA was coming up with. Reaching in to her briefcase the younger woman pulls out a pack of cigarettes and places one between her plump, lip glossed lips. The movement innocuous but for whatever reason causes Alex to be drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Effortlessly flicking her lighter up with her thumb, clearly an experienced move, Casey brings the flame to the end of her cigarette and quickly lights it. Dropping her hand she'd been using to shield the naked flame from the cold wind, the younger of the two women looks up and catches the unreadable expression now painted across Alex's face. Looking down to the still open cigarette packet in her hand Casey raises a questioning eyebrow towards her fellow prosecutor and finds her lips tugging into a smirk.

'Does she want me to offer her one or is she just offended that I smoke?' Casey ponders within the confines of her mind as her hazel eyes continue to find great satisfaction in the way her colleague is now staring at her.

Deciding to just offer the always prim and proper Ms Cabot a cigarette, Casey presents the packet the small distance between them and taps the bottom so one pokes out above the rest.

"I haven't smoked since college and even then it was only when I got drunk." Alex reveals as a way of declining, with a chuckle at some of her more rebellious memories, not that she had all that many.

Casey bites the inside of her cheek to stop from smirking at the other woman's words and just shrugs her shoulders a little.

"You party animal you. I don't smoke much myself anymore, at least I'm trying not to. The cycling into work is supposed to be an incentive to quit completely but as you can see it's not working all that well just yet." Casey comments softly, her husky voice starting to make a little more sense now to Alex.

'I've worked in the same building as this woman for five years and I never knew she smoked. Wow, I really am out of the loop.' Alex realises internally before throwing caution to the wind and accepting the offered cigarette.

Casey inhales her first toke of the smouldering cigarette with satisfaction, she actually had managed the night before without needing a fix. Stepping closer to the beautiful blonde beside her and shielding the early morning wind with her body and hand, Casey flicks her lighter once more in order to light Alex's cigarette.

Much to the younger woman's surprise though, Alex shakes her head with a roll of crystal blue eyes and just presses the butt of her cigarette between her lips firmly and leans her head in towards Casey. Catching the strawberry blonde slightly off guard, Casey takes a step back with a stumble and is only stopped when Alex's reaches for her arm to keep her steady.

The elegant blonde ADA presses the two ends of the cigarettes together and uses Casey's already burning one to ignite her own. It brings the two women closer than they likely have ever been before and almost causes the slightly shorter of the two to swallow her cigarette whole from gasping in shock.

Nodding her thanks to the hazel eyed ADA, Alex waits a second before inhaling the smoke. It hits her lungs hard but somehow, someway the 'Ice Queen' manages not to cough, although she comes damn well close. If there was ever a super power the blonde possessed it was her ability to look and remain cool even when scrambling to tread water.

'She smells like coconut.' Casey's inner voice declares like a stoned teenager. Not sure where the thought had come from the less experienced prosecutor shakes the thought from her mind and instead takes another toke of her own cigarette.

"So they attack the Captain, probably waking Savannah?" Casey ponders aloud, starting the hypothetical scenario of just what took place in that brownstone once more.

Blowing the smoke from the corner of her lips like she'd been doing it daily all of her life, Alex nods in agreement. Her well manicured thumb nail flicks at the butt of her cigarette and sends the ash into the wind. As her lips open to answer, Alex looks directly at Casey and into her hazel eyes which were practically glowing.

"Seems likely, it's probably why they restrained her like they did. Surely if they did that either the Captain was already subdued or there was even more than two of them?" Alex points out, her eyes noticing Casey seemed distracted by something.

Casey had yet to blink since watching the way the tall, model worthy blonde just made blowing out cigarette smoke one of the most erotic things she'd ever witnessed. Realising she was now being spoken to though, the strawberry blonde quickly shakes those thoughts away and just nods in agreement.

"Uh, yeah exactly. What I can't understand though is if Victor was the target, why did they go to the trouble to clearly hurt and attack Savannah also? I mean, tying her up to keep her out of their way, I get that but from what I was told she'd been beaten and possibly more." Casey says regretfully, just thinking about what that poor child had been through made her stomach churn.

As Casey mentions what had happened to Savannah, Alex finds herself instantly lost in her own thoughts, flashes of that bedroom rolling like a cine camera in her mind. All she could see was the look in Savannah's dark eyes, that pure terror and helplessness, it was like a knife directly to the blonde woman's heart.

"Seeing that poor girl like that…" Alex blurts out as she finds emotions springing up on her seemingly out of nowhere and affecting her ability to speak.

The tall attorney fights her emotions and inhales one large intake of her cigarette before flicking it to the ground and using the toe of her heel to stomp it out as a way of realising just some of her pent up emotions.

Guilt constricts Casey's heart as she realises it was her words which had brought this all back for Alex. Just seeing the seasoned and usually always together blonde so shaken and off her game was unsettling to see to say the least.

'This has hit Alex hard, I can only imagine what it must have been like.' Casey comments silently with deep sympathy for her fellow prosecutor who was clearly exhausted and running on fumes.

Casey herself had been affected by some of the cases she had tried and once she herself found a young, kidnapped girl in a cooler. To this day, nearly five years later and the strawberry blonde could still see that poor child's face barely hanging on and the terror in her eyes when she finally came around. The experience had been one of the reasons Casey refused to stick solely in one place and floated around to where she was needed, it was easier that way.

Biting back the emotions that were now flooding her sapphire eyes, Alex licks her lower lip and takes in one, deep, long breath to try and calm herself back down. After all what was the point of being called an 'Ice Queen' if you didn't at least behave like one.

"You got her out though Alex and now she's going to be looked after. We will find her dad and find out what happened and then I'm going to prosecute and send these animals away for good." Casey assures, her hand once more so close to touching Alex's but doesn't quite make the contact.

'Why is she grinning like that? I'm not afraid to say I am now slightly on edge and intimidated.' The strawberry blonde's inner voice comments as Casey attempts to read the look on Alex's face which had stopped her from once again touching her colleagues hand.

The older ADA's cheeks had broken out into a smile and Casey finds herself frowning slightly at the reaction. Alex however just nods her head in agreement and brings both arms around her body in crossed fashion, her coat still draped over one.

"That you will. I'm glad they called you in for this Casey, if it couldn't be me, it should be you." Alex explains with confidence, a comfort coming over her at the news the slightly younger attorney would be taking control of this case.

Casey feels her mouth open but is completely silent as the huge vote of confidence sinks in properly and registers within her mind. Casey Novak was hardly a rookie with five years experience but Alexandra Cabot was a seasoned legend and to have her praise and more importantly confidence was a huge deal.

'Alex Cabot just said…. About me.' The strawberry blonde's inner voice struggles to comprehend what had just happened but feels great pride surge into her heart all the same.

Realising she needed to respond, Casey puts the ash now threatening to fall from the butt of the cigarette out against the wall and drops it to the floor before kicking it away. The truth was once Alex had grinned all thought of smoking had left the younger woman's brain and all that had been left was un smoked ash remains.

"You have my word Alex, they will not get away with this." Casey affirms as this time she goes for it and just reaches up to the other woman's hand, which was tucked into her crossed arm and grips her fingers lightly in a squeeze.

The action brings the still glazed over blue orbs of the blonde attorney to stare directly into the warm and accepting hazel ones of the younger ADA. Not sure how else to react, Alex returns the squeeze, ever so lightly and the two women nod in understanding of what the other was thinking and more importantly feeling.

"How about we head back inside and see if they have an update on Savannah's condition. After all, you have a promise to keep." Casey suggests with a kind and reassuring smile as she turns towards the large doors leading back into the hospital waiting area.

Alex stands still for a moment as her blue eyes gaze upon the still packed and frantic waiting room, it was such a contrast to the peaceful escape of the outside. Locking eyes with her fellow ADA though, the tall blonde nods her head, straightens her posture and walks with purpose back in to the hospital waiting room.

Alexandra Cabot did not break her promises.

* * *

 _ **Okay, so that is the end of Chapter 2.**_

 _ **I hope that you enjoy it and if you do leave a review then I cannot say thank you enough. I am always interested in knowing what people think, feel, want to see and everything else as it helps me when writing so much. If not though I just hope you like it all the same.**_

 _ **Until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	3. Reading Behind Blue Eyes

_**So I owe you all a huge thank you for taking the time to read this story but more importantly to those wonderful people who took the extra time to leave me a review.**_

 _ **I have to admit I was really worried that perhaps this wasn't the kind of story people would be interested in but apparently and happily so, I was wrong.**_

 _ **I read every single review that is left and I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate them or just how helpful they are to me as I continue to write this story. Knowing what you are all thinking, wanting, suspecting and everything in between truly is worth it's weight in gold for me and helps me in ways I could never explain.**_

 _ **I really don't want to go on too much so I'll just say for now,**_ _ **I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

" **Reading Behind Blue Eyes"**

Having now returned to the overcrowded hospital waiting area, Alex can feel every one of her senses has heightened. The long time ADA was used to all of the eyes being on her, hell she even thrived on it but not under these circumstances. Questions were being asked that the blonde knew she was currently unequipped to answer and that was always one of the hardest things for a prosecutor to face.

Squeezing through the maze of watchful eyes belonging to police higher ups, who were doing nothing really but cluttering the place, Alex thankfully spots a friendly face in Lieutenant Benson and so heads towards her.

"I'm sorry Olivia, I just had to get some fresh air." Alex apologises instantly knowing she had done somewhat of a disappearing act on her long time friend.

Olivia quickly shakes her head at the unneeded apology and gives a sympathetic half smile towards the blonde lawyer who was flanked by Casey Novak.

Although Olivia and Casey hadn't worked alongside one another as many times as the lieutenant had with Alex, they were still fairly known to each other. There is a nod of recognition along with that knowing look and sigh that this was not how they wanted to be in one another's company again.

"I'm guessing you got called in to take this on when the time comes?" The brunette cop asks the strawberry blonde knowingly as Casey works on undoing her winter coat and removing her scarf.

Alex finds her eyes drifting over to the still shut doors of the treatment area, the aching in her chest to know how Savannah was doing somehow growing even stronger. When she'd been speaking with Casey at least there had been a kind of distraction but now back within the hospital walls, the feeling was too hard to ignore.

"Well seeing as Alex walked into the scene and has become a witness they thought I was second best for the job. I know SVU cases and have worked with you before so, I guess it makes sense." Casey explains as she flicks her long hair out after being tightly wrapped by her scarf.

Still looking over at the room where she had been separated from Savannah, Alex proves she is actually still listening by nodding her head strongly.

"I told Casey, there isn't anyone else I would rather do it than her." The tall blonde reveals confidently as she turns to face the other two women.

In a stance she often slipped into when feeling slightly vulnerable or unsure what to do, Alex crosses her arms tightly underneath her breasts and hunches her shoulders just slightly. She was drained of almost all energy at this point but wasn't about to throw in the towel anytime soon.

Olivia nods in agreement to Alex's vote of confidence and the decision the DA's office has made to appoint the younger ADA. Casey was damn good at her job and like a dog with a bone once she got her teeth stuck in, so the brunette lieutenant was actually somewhat relieved the newly strawberry blonde was on the case.

Casey's hazel eyes were watching the slightly taller woman beside her closely. Alex had clammed up since re-entering the hospital and was shielding herself with her arms wrapped tightly around her slim frame. Although always rather reserved, Ms Cabot was never normally someone who would come across anything but forthright and confident, the complete opposite to how she seemed to be now.

'She's so worried about this young girl. I can't say I blame her, she saw what state she was in, we didn't. It must have been horrific to affect someone like Alex like this though. I really hope these doctors give an update soon.' Casey mentally rants, her intense watching of the more experienced ADA not going unnoticed by Olivia.

"Any updates from Fin or Carisi? Has anyone who works with Captain Bruno arrived yet to shed some light on what may have happened?" Alex questions with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel and steely blue eyes that told everyone she was in ADA mode.

Olivia's somewhat suspicious and wondering gaze of Casey is interrupted by her blonde friend's 'court room' voice and it quickly gathers all of the lieutenant's attention like it had been intended to do.

Casey almost cringes at the question but looks hopefully towards Olivia who is resting her hip on the nurses' station as they speak. Flipping her shoulder length, dark locks back with one hand the lieutenant slips her phone from her pocket and scrolls through something.

"I've spoken with two of his sergeants and one of his detectives but apart from 'he's a great Captain', they had little else to say. They're determined to get out and find him themselves and were really just looking to me for some guidance. Fin and Carisi are doing door to doors for witnesses. Someone said they heard a van screeching away at around eleven last night but no visual on the make or colour or the people in it. Patrol are looking into any CCTV that may have caught them or anything suspicious in the area. Crime techs are still making their way through the house but for the most part it seems to be localised to the Captain's bedroom and Savannah's." Olivia answers as she runs down the still limited information that had been gathered at this time.

"So we have nothing. This man and his daughter are apparently nonexistent." Alex laments with a huff, one hand slipping from its crossed position to slap against her skirt clad thigh in frustration.

Before either Casey or Olivia can object to that assertion, the blonde lawyer shakes her head and places one hand on her hip as her stance becomes more authority based and in control. Alex was struggling to put the pieces together and make sense of this situation, that coupled with her deep concern for Savannah was starting to make the attorney somewhat unravel.

"I've been thinking since she told me her name and I cannot remember for the life of me Victor Bruno ever mentioning he had a daughter. I mean, I didn't work with him a huge amount but enough where you'd think something like that would have at least come up once or twice." Alex sighs, getting off her chest a fact which had been niggling at her for hours now.

Both the lieutenant and fellow ADA find themselves running through their previous interactions with the Captain and find they come up with the same conclusion. They hadn't been aware he had a daughter either, it wasn't unheard of but it was rare in a job environment like the NYPD where everyone considered themselves part of a family.

"I remember something about him having a wife who died or left him but that was back when I was still a detective and just office talk. I don't actually remember Victor being very open about his personal life at all really." Olivia adds, like her blonde friend something about this entire situation just wasn't sitting right for the seasoned NYPD employee.

Casey's hazel eyes flicker between the two slightly more experienced women either side of her and her brow ever so slightly furrows in the middle. Her mind was in overdrive, much like Alex's. Casey was also finding these puzzle pieces just weren't quite fitting together and it was causing more and more questions to be raised.

"You know when I got the call about this and asked for the Captain's files and any information on him to be sent to me, they seemed confused when I asked for any information on his daughter. What is going on because it just, it doesn't feel right?" Casey surmises what the three of them were independently all coming to the conclusion of and in affect brings their conversation to an end.

The mood changes as Olivia's dark eyes spot a doctor exiting the treatment area and walking towards them. It had been nearly two hours since Savannah had been brought in and this was the first time any medical staff had come to give an update.

With a gentle nudge of her elbow to Alex's ribs, Casey nods towards the doctor who gives a welcoming smile in return. She was short, probably not much over five-four, long black hair tied up in a pony tail and blue eyes which told the story of her commitment to this job.

"Is there any news on Savannah, Doctor Jennings?" Casey asks, beating both the lieutenant and more experienced ADA, much to both women's shock and ever so sight annoyance.

'I know she is going to be taking this case on and everything but I hope she knows she is now standing on the toes of Alexandra Cabot.' Olivia mentally assess the younger prosecutors actions with intrigue as to how Alex would react.

Side eyeing her slightly younger colleague, Alex lets out a long breath through her nose and only breaks her pointed look when the doctor speaks up.

"Savannah is stable but deeply distressed and understandably untrusting. She's said next to nothing to anyone but has a mean swing when she doesn't want to be touched. Despite this, she is very weak and fragile. She's dehydrated, anaemic, malnourished and severely underweight for a girl of eleven, nearly twelve years old." The doctor begins, her words causing all three women to start to share looks of confusion and concern between themselves.

'Eleven, that can't possibly be right. I saw that girl, practically helped pick her up onto that gurney. She was tiny, no more than eight if a day. How can this be possible?' Alex's inner voice frantically attempts to make sense of what she was being told and what she had previously seen with her own blue eyes.

"Eleven, she is eleven you are sure about this?" Alex questions sharply. She had meant to keep her disbelief to herself and yet had blurted the question out all the same.

Doctor Jennings gives the clearly confused ADA a sympathetic and understanding nod of her head. She could see why Alex was struggling to believe Savannah's actual age because if she hadn't of seen it in black and white for herself she never would have believed it herself.

"Eleven, twelve in March going by her medical records." The doctor explains in a little more detail, her words seemingly enough to silence Alex for now and the long time lawyer just gives a faint nod of acceptance.

Olivia feels an all too familiar sinking sensation hit her stomach. She had been around the block far too many times not to recognise the signs this doctor was pointing out. This case just became a hell of a lot more complicated.

"Savannah is deeply distressed and I've examined her as thoroughly as possible without causing the poor girl more anguish. This means I've only be able to run tests, x-rays and scans, as long as no one touched her. Examination wise, when I have so much as attempted to roll up her sleeve, Savannah almost hyperventilated. This girl has been through so much and with no obvious signs of anything needing immediate treatment I have held back. Going by the wounds I have been able to see, on her wrists and ankles, also her collar bone, the restraints which were holding Savannah down have caused deep lacerations, bruising and swelling. I cleaned and dressed them but as I was doing so I noticed scarring underneath. With the scarring and signs these wounds have already attempted to start to heal, I can tell you Savannah has been held on that bed for days, if not weeks and this is not the first time it's happened." The doctor continues, just reading the fellow women's reactions was enough to make her want to stop but she had a job to do.

Alex's eyes shut completely as the raven haired doctor's words slice through her like cheese wire. The bile taste in the attorney's mouth is almost enough to make her gag but the 'Ice Queen's' strength somehow manages to stop that occurring.

The normally full of gusto, slightly less experienced ADA feels all of her energy drain like a balloon deflating as reality comes crashing into view for her. Casey's shoulders slump and her hand instinctively reaches out towards Alex's bicep when she spots the blonde quiver in the peripheral of her hazel orbs.

It was almost as though a light switch had been flipped and the adrenaline Alex had been running on, in one instant vanished completely. Casey's deceivingly strong grip does its job however and keeps the taller woman from buckling completely. With a thankful nod towards the young prosecutor Alex takes in a breath and regains her composure. Why was this affecting her so much and so deeply, what was it about this little girl?

Knowing she had to continue to get information from the experienced doctor, Olivia stands straighter and just nods her head for the woman to continue. As a long time detective, sergeant and now lieutenant, these situations were unfortunately all too familiar for the brunette and she knew what part of herself to shut off in order to get through.

"From what I have seen in the restraint marks, welts, swelling and bruising, Savannah was tied down and beaten. She had no way of defending herself, not even being able to use her arms and hands to shield the attack. I'm guessing that is exactly what her attacker wanted and all the poor girl could do was lay there and grit her teeth." Doctor Jennings reveals with a gnawing sensation in the very pit of her stomach, just thinking about how someone could be capable of these things was sickening.

The doctor could tell none of the three women in front of her were ready to speak so instead decides to just carry on with what she had to relay and get it over with.

"The x-rays and scans are showing no signs of any internal damage above heavy bruising and swelling. No need for surgery and no internal bleeding is the good news." Doctor Jennings explains, her eyes meeting with Olivia's as a silent conversation between the two takes place knowing the worst was yet to come.

'Oh Savannah, just what have you been made to suffer through?' Alex ponders silently as at this point she was mainly focusing on regaining her ability to stand without aid. One hand was pressed firmly onto the top of the nurse's station and the other gripping her hip as Casey refuses to lower her hand and just keeps it ghosting next to the more experienced ADA, just encase.

"The bad news is from her scans and x-rays, this is not the first brutal attack Savannah has suffered. She has multiple injuries which have healed but clearly without any medical supervision. There are undiagnosed breaks and fractures throughout her body with signs of tissue damage from repeated severe bruising and swelling. The x-rays and scans are showing me that this has been ongoing for, if not all, the majority of her young life." Doctor Jennings surmises with an ever growing empty feeling resting uncomfortably in her stomach.

The sinking sensation spreads across the two ADA's and lieutenant as they each hear about just what this poor girl has been subjected to in her young life. As awful as this was so far, each and every one of them knew it was only going to continue to get worse and somehow more horrific, the look in the short doctor's eyes the biggest indicator of that.

"Looking at her medical records, there's hardly anything here. It has information on her birth, but minimal at that, her follow up shots and immunisations and then nothing at all. It's as though she ceases to exist, not so much as a paediatrician visit for a cold." The doctor continues with words which continue to confirm the heartbreaking truth of Savannah's history.

Olivia shifts nervously from one foot to the other and her dark orbs glance momentarily towards Alex with apprehension about what was the obvious next question to ask. The tall lawyer was taking this hard and the experienced cop had a gut instinct what was coming next wasn't going to make things any easier.

"What about signs of sexual abuse?" Alex abruptly asks, her voice was mono tone but her crystal sapphire eyes were glistening in the hospital light with raw emotion.

Doctor Jennings' eyes flicker to Olivia for a moment, asking silently if she should answer. Now stuck with little to no other choice, the lieutenant nods and nervously takes in a breath. Alex had asked the question and knowing the blonde ADA as long as she had, Olivia was more than aware there wasn't a chance on this earth that Alex would be missing the answer.

"We haven't been able to examine her enough to assess if there has been any sexual abuse. A pelvic exam in her current state, it doesn't bare thinking about. Just getting her calm enough for the x-rays and scans was a struggle. If you want my instinct and professional opinion from her behaviour, the injuries I have seen, her x-ray and scan results, the chances Savannah has also been sexually abused is…. High."The raven haired doctor regretfully informs the three women in front of her and feels another piece of her own soul die.

Casey shakes her head as a physical pain pierces her heart and that helpless sensation all people involved in these type of cases knew all too well. Having already been expecting this Olivia can only deflate with a sigh and rests her elbow on the nurses' station as she stands. Alex though seems unaffected, her head nods in understanding but she makes no attempt to ask anything further, what else was there to ask?

"I wanted to give her a mild sedative, to calm her so we could examine her thoroughly and possibly then do a pelvic exam. I didn't though because I had a thought and perhaps there is another way we can do this. I actually came out here because the only thing Savannah has said to anyone, is your name Alex." The doctor reveals, her words snapping the tall attorney from her stoic stance and cause her blue eyes to widen with shock.

Doctor Jennings knew all three of these women, unfortunately due to cases somewhat similar to this and was on a first name basis with them all. As a doctor she'd been doing this for near on twenty five years and in that time had come to recognise the people who did their jobs for the right reasons and those who were in it strictly for the pay check.

"My name?" Alex breathes out for clarification but it was nothing more than an attempt to by a few seconds to collect herself.

As the understanding doctor nods her head in confirmation, the blonde attorney swallows a thick, hard lump which had formed in her throat. Her blue eyes flicker back and forth between both Olivia and Casey, almost searching for some kind of guidance.

"I promised her I would stay with her and I didn't follow through." Alex sighs regretfully as she fights to keep her emotions in check. In the courtroom this task was a lot easier but in this moment in time the supposed 'Ice Queen' was beginning to melt.

Both Casey and Olivia are quick to shake their heads in disagreement with their friend's statement. She was blaming herself but neither woman was about to let that happened so easily.

"You didn't have a choice Alex, the doctors needed to work on her and no one without a medical degree and job at this hospital was going to be allowed in to that room." Casey's deep voice retorts, her hazel eyes now showing more green as her emotions were heightened.

Olivia is silenced once again by the strawberry blonde jumping in ahead of her. The long time cop wasn't angry though, in fact she was almost thankful sensing that Casey was getting through to her fellow ADA the most out of anyone right now.

Alex's eyes glance to the younger ADA and although appreciative of her words, wasn't about to let herself off of the hook so easily. For a moment there is a stare down between the women, neither about to back down on their stance and it causes a pulse which is almost tangible between them.

'Oh, she is so stubborn. I won't allow her to make excuses for me though, I made that girl a promise and failed to keep it. That is on me.' Alex's inner voice rants as it becomes apparent Casey was standing her ground.

By now Casey's body had turned slightly so, apart from the slight height difference between the two lawyers, the women were nose to nose. Each of them using the skills they had honed for their work in the courtroom to try and convince the other to accept their defeat.

"Do you understand I made a promise to that young girl councillor? A promise that I would not leave her side and through whatever circumstances, I broke it." Alex laments with piercing eyes locked in on Casey's through her glasses. The use of calling the strawberry blonde councillor half reflex and half an attempt for the slightly more experienced ADA to get under Casey's skin.

'If she thinks that steely glare and courtroom language is going to get me to allow her to blame herself, she is sadly mistaken and in for a fight.' Casey mentally warns the fellow attorney, she may well be less experienced but the strawberry blonde made up for that with her determination.

'I am also not entirely sure if I find her pulsating anger towards me terrifying or attractive or both though at this point. Is that something I should worry about?' Casey's inner voice chimes in as a secondary thought but thankfully the slightly younger woman brushes that thought to the back of her mind, for now.

"And like I explained councillor, you were given no choice in the matter. Your actions were forced upon you, therefore you hold no reasonable blame for the outcome." Casey counters, her low voice exaggerating the way she says 'councillor', in a verbal middle finger to the blonde now seemingly growing taller before her.

Sensing this was going to end up in a battle of whose legal argument was bigger, Olivia holds her hands up and steps between the two over heated attorneys. The lieutenant had stepped in to break up many arguments and altercations in her career before now but this was definitely something new.

Taking a step back, due to Olivia's strong arm forcing her too, Casey just straightens her blazer and tries to hide the fact her cheeks were becoming flushed. She had not meant to get in an argument over something so trivial but the strong willed ADA was unable to take Alex blaming herself like that.

"How about we take a breath and focus on why we're here?" Olivia suggests skilfully as she gives a subtle nod towards the rather amused doctor to continue with what she was saying.

Alex nods in agreement and gives her apparently worthy opponent a lingering gaze. She could tell just be the way Casey's plump lower lip was slightly protruding that her fellow prosecutor was butt hurt from the interference. Alex has to stop herself from smiling at the almost childlike response but deep down knew she would be showing the same reaction somewhere on her expression also. Neither woman was the kind who liked to lose any kind of an argument or debate, especially when they were sure they were right but this was a far way removed from the court room. Shaking her head clear of those thoughts, the tall blonde just crosses both of her arms underneath her chest and stands with her weight shifted more on to one foot as she focuses solely onto the doctor.

"Anyway, I was thinking perhaps your presence may be a way of comforting Savannah and calming her down a little. She needs to be properly examined and any more injuries treated, I don't believe there are any life threatening but they must still at least be painful. I truly believe we need to do a rape kit and pelvic exam as well but I don't want to put her through any un-needed distress if I can help it. Would you be willing to come back and see her councillor?" Doctor Jennings suggests softly sensing that the long time ADA had built a strong connection with this patient.

The tall, experienced and successful councillor finds herself unable to verbalise a reply. Alex wanted to go and see Savannah more than she could actually explain and yet the fact the doctor was asking for her help had knocked Alex for six.

Feeling all three sets of eyes now burning into her as they wait for a response, Alex is reminded of being a young child being called out to read in front of the class for the first time. The pressure was mounting and normally something that the experienced lawyer could brush off like dust on her jacket but right now, in this situation she finds herself faltering.

"I've never done anything like that before. I deal with victims in preparing their testimony and within the courtroom. I don't know what help I would actually be. Olivia is far, far more qualified for this than I am." Alex finally strains out, the self doubt something no one who knew her would expect to come from the model worthy blonde.

Casey frowns at the fellow attorney's words and finds an odd wave of annoyance hitting her from hearing such untrue things coming from Alex's lips. Wanting to yet again correct the more experienced ADA, inform the beautiful woman that just her presence alone would be all the help Savannah would need, the strawberry blonde's mouth twitches to open. Somehow though and thankfully so, cooler heads prevail and Casey manages to keep her opinions to herself this time, although it takes a physical bite to the inside of her cheek to do so.

"Alex, I am experienced but you are the one with the rapport with Savannah. She know s you, feels comfortable with you and is clearly asking for you. I can do it but I would just be yet another person who is going to have to try and gain her trust. You already have it." Olivia assures her friend, the fact Alex was so hesitant not a complete shock for the brunette though.

Being in these situations with victims, especially children was anything but easy. It ripped through you unlike anything else and there was always that fear that whatever you try, whatever you do you won't be able to help. After years and years of doing her job though, the seasoned cop knew sometimes just being a hand to squeeze was all you can do but not any less important.

"You know the law Alex, what is acceptable and isn't. You're not going to cross any lines in that respect and just you being there could really help Savannah and help us get the evidence we need to figure out what has happened to her." Olivia adds, she could see the debate turning over in Alex's mind but also the urge to want to help and protect this child.

'I am not trained for this like Olivia. I am a prosecutor and that world I know well, I know it back to front but this… this is something completely different. This poor girl has been traumatized and abused, what if I don't know how to help? What if I make matters worse somehow?' Alex inwardly panics, her insecurities of her abilities outside of court or her job ringing alarm bells as if this was an extreme weather warning.

Almost able to read the thoughts spinning around in her co workers mind, Casey notices that Doctor Jennings and Olivia were beginning to discuss the possibility of the lieutenant taking Alex's place and the less experienced ADA wasn't about to let that happen.

With a slight repositioning of her stance, Casey catches Alex's gaze and just raises her eyebrow. It was a cocky move but one that grips the blonde's attention like it had been intended to. With a tilt of her head, the strawberry blonde mouths out slowly 'You made a promise'.

Alex feels almost like she'd been hit with a cheap shot with the councillor's tactics but understood them all the same. Casey was indeed right, even if that was slightly irritating for the blue eyed prosecutor to admit.

'Oh okay she is underhanded but she is also very, very good.' Alex's inner voice relents within the confines of her mind as those hazel eyes belonging to Casey seemingly see straight through whatever defences the blonde attorney had left.

Taking in a deep breath and straightening her posture, just like her mother had always taught her, Alex tears her eyes away from Casey. The younger of the two lawyers had a knowing grin across her plump lips which was starting to cause a burn deep within Alex's stomach, so in order to ignore it the blonde looks back to both the doctor and Olivia who were still having their own little conversation.

"Okay, of course I will. Savannah is all alone and I did make a promise" Alex agrees with a strong nod of her head. The comment about having made a promise is pointed directly at Casey who takes the shot like a badge of honour and it only causes the grin across her face to widen.

'Ugh, why am I getting such satisfaction in knowing I am getting under Alex's skin?' Casey questions inwardly with a half chuckle as secretly her heart soars with relief that her under handed trick had worked.

Although inwardly Alex was still concerned about her ability to be of any actual help to Savannah on the outside at least the 'Ice Queen' is able to keep her reputation and comes across as completely confident and in control. Her stance was straight, shoulders back and chin high but deep within those crystal blue eyes Casey could still see the flickering of self doubt that made her both angry and sad at the same time.

'She doesn't realise she has no reason to be so worried. I never would have thought Alexandra Cabot could doubt herself, she always seems so sure and forthright in everything she does. Then again if she didn't she wouldn't have been doing the job she does so well for as long as she has.' Casey mentally surmises conclusions about her fellow prosecutor that before today she would have never even given a second thought.

Doctor Jennings gives a warm smile of encouragement towards Alex before looking to both Olivia and Casey, who seemed relieved at Alex's choice as much as she was. Maybe, just maybe with the blonde's assistance they would finally be able to help Savannah fully and if they are lucky get some more answers, good or bad.

"I am going to see if I can get any updates from my team. I think it will be best to interview Savannah later today, after she has had chance to rest. I'll be back after lunch and hopefully by then we will have more to go on." Olivia suggests, her mind making a plan as she speaks, something that was a regular occurrence for the lieutenant and mother of one.

Alex nods in complete understanding and offers a warm and grateful smile to her friend who had rushed out of bed in the early hours of the morning just to be there for her.

"That sounds like a good idea Liv. I'm not going to leave Savannah any time soon, so I'll see you later on." The tall woman replies, her urge to help protect this poor child starting to overcome her.

Olivia motions towards Casey with her hand that was holding her phone, ready to make a call to her baby sitter who she had called in hours before and needed relieving of her duties. With a raised thin eyebrow Olivia goes to open her mouth and offer the ADA a lift but is quickly silenced by the shaking of Casey's head.

"Actually I think I'm going to stay right here. There is a lot of brass here and officials, if nothing else I'll be able to sweet talk some of them and hopefully get them to lay off with the pressure on you and your team Olivia. Also, I want to make sure Savannah is doing okay before I go anywhere." The confident, slightly younger lawyer reveals, her plans having been made way before now. She was going to stick around for a while yet, whether people liked it or not.

Nodding in understanding the long time cop just gives a warm smile to all three women in front of her. Reaching out for Alex, Olivia strokes the attorney's arm and looks directly into her eyes for a second as she gets ready to take off.

"I'll see you later." Olivia assures, her words simple but the look behind her dark orbs saying so much more than any words could.

Nodding her thanks towards her long time friend, Alex gives her best smile of confidence but knows by the way Olivia rubs her arm again it fails in being believable. With slight unease the tall woman slips her thin arms back into a strongly locked cross just under her chest and watches as Olivia pulls her hand back and nods in a last attempt to send some reassurances before making her exit.

Doctor Jennings raises her hand towards the exiting lieutenant before quickly turning to face Alex more one on one. She smiles and motions over to a few other doctors who were calling for her attention from across the waiting area.

"If you'll just bare with me a moment, I will be back to take you through to Savannah." The raven haired doctor explains before quickly going to see what her co workers wanted her for.

Now stood with only Casey next to her, Alex can feel each pump of her heart and feel the increasing tightness around her lungs. There was another sensation that was becoming apparent to the long time prosecutor though and that was Casey's hazel eyes being focused solely on her. Alex could feel the heat being left behind each time the younger lawyer's gaze would move to another section of the blonde's face and begin to study all over again.

Casey sinks her teeth down into her plump lower lip before wetting the slightly irritated spot with her tongue. It was something she did when she was nervous or had a lot of pent up energy or emotions coursing through her body, something she did without any acknowledgement.

"When I was five, I broke my arm really bad. I fell out of a tree trying to show off to one of the neighbourhood kids and prove I wasn't scared." Casey blurts out the tale from her past as she finds herself sliding up next to Alex a little closer and uses her elbow to just lightly poke the taller woman's ribs.

Jolting from the jab, Alex's crystal eyes flash over to Casey as a frown of confusion knits her brow down deeper than usual. Unsure if she had heard her fellow ADA correctly, Alex's lips part slowly in an attempt to figure out just what to say in reply but comes up completely empty. Luckily Casey had no intention of letting the blonde prosecutor ask any questions and just carries right along.

"I was screaming and crying with the pain, convinced my bone would be sticking out of my skin. My oldest brother Joe took great delight in telling me I would have to have the limb amputated and got me to the point I nearly threw up I was sobbing so hard." Casey's always deep voice continues, her eyes not looking to Alex as she speaks but instead out into the busy hospital waiting area.

'What in the world has possessed her into telling me this story from her childhood? Is it her way of distracting me?' Alex mentally questions the fellow lawyers motives for her sharing but continues to listen none the less, what harm could it do?

"No one and nothing would calm me down. My mom tried on the trip to the hospital, my other less of a prick brother Mikey even offered me his ice pop but I was inconsolable. I was terrified, convinced I was going to lose my arm or at the least have my bone forever protruding out of my neck. I had a pretty vivid imagination back then." Casey explains, her assessment of her younger self actually causing the smallest of smiles to rise on Alex's lips.

'She says that like something has changed.' Alex mindlessly comments silently as she finds herself now studying Casey like the strawberry blonde had been doing to her mere moments before.

"So we get to the hospital and wait for ages but eventually I get to see the doctor and have all the x-rays done and everything. It's broken and I need to have it reset and this huge ass cast that is going to ruin the rest of my summer break. I'm devastated as well as scared and my mom, well she was busy trying to keep my brothers and sisters from causing hell in the waiting room, so I was alone." The younger of the two women continues her memory and her words this time hit Alex directly in her supposed frozen heart.

'She was five with a terribly broken arm and her mom had just left her to deal with it herself? I thought my mother was hard but jeez.' Alex's inner conversation comments as her sapphire eyes notice Casey's face react with sadness at the memory.

"I basically got myself so worked up I forgot how to breathe and was on the verge of passing out. Then this nurse came over, she didn't say anything to me at all. Instead she sat beside me and she grabbed this book from… well I'm not sure but she started to read out loud. I thought she'd lost her mind but it stopped me crying and got me breathing again. That nurse stayed and read me that book while they reset my arm and put the cast on, it was something so simple but…. I've never forgotten it." The younger of the two women continues with her face going from deep sadness to a warm contentment within seconds.

Alex finds herself unable to communicate any kind of response to Casey's tale from her childhood but does start to see just why the strawberry blonde had decided to open up about it.

"Sometimes, it's not about what we say to someone or even what we do. Sometimes it's just the fact we are there that helps and you're here." Casey finally concludes as she actually turns her head and locks eyes once more with the more experienced ADA beside her.

Before Alex can formulate a reply to the slightly shorter prosecutor Doctor Jennings reappears and informs the blonde ADA that she was ready to take her back to see Savannah. Casey smiles towards the doctor but is quick to lock her eyes back in with Alex's and just smiles brightly in the other woman's direction.

"I will see you later Alex. Goodbye Doctor Jennings." Casey politely says her goodbyes with that confident smile showing off her teeth as the doctor guides Alex away from the nurses' station and over towards the large doors that earlier Savannah had been rushed into alone.

'How did she just do that?' Alex finds herself questioning Casey's ability to once again quiet down her nerves with seemingly next to no effort and just on pure instinct. No one had ever been able to do that and yet here was this younger, beautiful woman she'd worked alongside for five years without even knowing she smoked and within a few hours this woman apparently was able to read Alex like a favourite book you know word for word from cover to cover.

Clearly Casey Novak was a force to be reckoned with when it came to a verbal joust but now Alex was quickly realising the strawberry blonde was so much more. The sultry voiced attorney had an understanding of the 'Ice Queen' that Alex knew she herself even lacked. The fact she was being so easy to read by the younger ADA was unsettling for the normally in control and guarded blonde and yet at the same time there was an odd comfort from it.

Her entire life Alexandra Cabot had been self sufficient, relying only on herself and what she had learnt in order to succeed. Coming from a family containing a judge, multiple CEO's and high ranking powerful forces within business had done next to nothing in getting the beautiful blonde to where she currently was. It may seem to the outside world that Alex's family would have been some kind of leg up in her life but if anything it was the opposite. Due to a lack of connection with her family members and determination to make it on her own merits alone now meant the long time ADA found it difficult to connect with people but more so to allow herself to get close to anyone.

Alex worked better alone, no one else she had to trust, no one else she had to rely on because if life had taught her anything it was other people let you down. There was an odd comfort in knowing if you let yourself down then there is only yourself to blame, no emotions to be let down or promises to be un-kept.

And yet here Alex was, watching Casey gracefully swinging her hips and striding through the hospital waiting room but secretly wishing she would stay. Alex was finding herself becoming reliant on someone else, finding comfort in the way someone else was able to know what she was feeling without anything being said. That was not how Alexandra Cabot operated and yet it was how she found her blue eyes lingering on the stunning natural redhead as she walked out of view.

Just what was it about Casey Novak that was breaking down everything Alex Cabot had thought she'd ever known about herself and seemingly correcting these things so effortlessly?

* * *

 _ **So here we are at the end of chapter 3, I know perhaps it seems like not much happened but that is because I wanted to try and explain a little about Savannah's overall condition and just how everyone reacts to the news.**_

 _ **Now Savannah does make a appearance in the next chapter and we will find out a little more as to just how she is and perhaps some insight into her past.**_

 _ **Once again i just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for reading and if anyone does leave a review for this chapter then my thank you is even larger. If you do leave me a review I really look forward to hearing from you ad finding out what you are thinking and feeling and everything in between.**_

 _ **Please never feel shy in letting me know, especially if you have any ideas of things you may want to see in the future. If I can I will do my best to use them and work them in to the story at some point, maybe with a little twist of my own here and there.**_

 _ **I will be working on getting the next chapter out to all of you lovely people as soon as I possibly can, I won't make any promises as I don't ever want to let anyone down if I can't stick to it.**_

 _ **U**_ _ **ntil next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	4. Keeping A Promise

_**I am back with another chapter that I hope you all enjoy.**_

 _ **I want to just take a moment to truly thank all of you for reading my work but an even larger debt of gratitude is owed to those of you who also took the time to leave me a review. I really can not say thank you enough for each of them, I take them all on board and love knowing what you are thinking and feeling and so on and so forth.**_

 _ **I**_ _ **think that is enough of me so I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

" **Keeping A Promise"**

As Alex's heels click against the changing hospital flooring now she is being led into the treatment area, the smell of disinfectant and that distinctive hospital scent both fill Alex's lungs. They burn at the woman's nostrils slightly as they bring the reality of this situation crashing home for the tall and slim attorney now venturing out of her comfort zone.

"Savannah is still in the clothes she was brought in wearing but we need to collect them for evidence. Do you think you'll be able to convince her to wear a gown? It will make seeing to her injuries a lot easier also." The doctor questions as they walk into the treatment room where, almost hidden in the corner Savannah was laying.

At first the doctor's words sound like muffled horns inside the attorney's mind but slowly Alex comes back to earth and just gives a confident nod. Her blonde locks bounce off of her shoulders as her pace towards Savannah's hospital bed picks up, now the young brunette is in sight.

Savannah was in the last bed, her long, brown locks contrasting against the white pillows of the bed and giving her location away. She was surrounded by nurses but even by how she was lying Alex could tell the little girl was tensed and on edge.

Alex slows her approach as her crystal blue eyes take a full scan of the scene in front of her. A large hospital bed was barely occupied by a far too small body of an almost teenager. If her feet met three quarters way down the bed then it was a miracle, she was tiny, almost hidden by the bed itself. Dried blood and dirt were now patterned across the crisp white sheets where Savannah was still in her clothing from the house. Dark, long locks of brown hair were fanned out underneath the young girl's head as she lays slightly propped up by pillows.

'I truly don't know if my heart can handle finding out just what this poor girl has been through in her life. I know I should be used to facing such cruelty and unimaginable evil but for some reason this is quickly becoming too much for me.' Alex mentally worries about her inability to shut herself off from everything being thrown at her when it comes to this eleven year old but right now she had no choice, she had to cope for Savannah's sake.

"Savannah, I have someone who I think you want to see. You remember Alex don't you?" Doctor Jennings lightly presses, Savannah's gaze was lost in the distance until the word 'Alex' is spoken.

Turning her head ever so slightly, her cheek melting into the pillow, Savannah sees the tall, strong blonde from earlier and her lips begin to twitch up at the corners. Almost a smile, almost. The poor girl was exhausted, beyond exhausted at this point but her fighting spirit was somehow keeping her going.

'At least this time she isn't being tied up like a slab of meat. Those eyes still look so terrified though and I can't blame her.' Alex mentally surmises before taking a breath and kicking herself into gear.

"Hey Savannah, it's so good to see you." The long time prosecutor speaks softly as she reaches the side of the bed and places both her bag and coat to the floor. It was a eerie contrast to their first meeting hours before but thankfully this time the setting was, at least slightly better.

Blue eyes remain locked in a gaze with dark brown ones though and Savannah's tiny hand, which was bandaged heavily around the wrist and pierced with an IV twitches up onto the side rail. Taking this as a sign, the nervous ADA reaches out and delicately wraps her warm hand over the small counterpart of the child.

"You… didn't leave." Savannah whispers her reply, eyes now brimming with unshed tears and a weight seemingly lifting from her young shoulders. The fact she had spoken clearly taking the fellow medical staff off guard, maybe Alex was going to be of some help after all.

Alex feels a strong sting crash into her eyes at the eleven year olds words and it takes all the strength the attorney has to keep herself from blubbering. Nodding her head in agreement, the blonde slowly bends down so she is more at Savannah's level.

"I made a promise didn't I?" Alex explains softly as her thumb begins to instinctively run back and forth across Savannah's thumb bone, being careful of her wound and IV of course.

The brunette child just slowly shrugs her shoulders, her head nodding but the ADA could tell Savannah wasn't exactly convinced by that reasoning. Promises probably meant next to nothing in Savannah's life and if they meant anything it was likely unspeakable things.

'Reassure her Alex, she needs reassurance.' Alex's inner voice barks orders as for once the tall blonde shuts off her inner lawyer and attempts to tap into another side of herself.

"I made you a promise to be here and I am. I know sometimes people break promises they make, a lot of people do actually but I'm not one of them. I'm here, right here with you, just like I said." Alex assures, hoping her words would somehow bring comfort to this poor child.

Savannah clearly contemplates the words of the counsellor in her head, weighing up if they made sense. Alex had been honest about most people breaking their promises and normally that would be disheartening for a child but not for Savannah. No, instead the small eleven year old takes this as a sign Alex was being truthful with her and so slowly nods her head in understanding and Alex returns it with a gentle squeeze of the girl's hand.

"Doctor Jennings told me you are being incredibly brave, I told her you were back at the house too." Alex praises sincerely as the eleven year old in the hospital bed, looks deeply into the woman's crystal blue orbs.

For a second there is a slight blush that rushes against Savannah's tanned cheeks but quickly disappears when the young brunette senses she is being buttered up for something. Tensing up the eleven year old narrows her eyes with suspicion and begins to look around her bed for where the next attack would be coming from.

'Oh she is hyper-vigilant to say the least. Poor thing has probably had to be.' Alex mentally comments on the child's actions before sucking in a breath and hopefully the courage she knows she'll need to get through this.

"Savannah, look at me okay sweetheart. I'm right here and do you remember how back at the house I told you I wouldn't let anyone hurt you?" The model like blonde asks knowingly, her voice calming as she moves to place Savannah's hand between the both of hers, as they rest on the bed rail.

Savannah's attention is taken by the attorney's words and although running on fumes and fear, the eleven year old faintly nods her head to say she did remember.

"That goes for here too. I am going to be right here, holding your hand the entire time the doctors check you over. If they do anything that hurts you, all you have to do is squeeze my hand, as hard as you want and I swear, I will make them stop." Alex reveals, her words spoken confidently and her grip over Savannah's hand protective.

Searching the sea of blue inside the ADA's eyes, almost certain she will find a sign of this being a lie or trick, Savannah's lower lip beings to tremble. The poor brunette had been through so much, her emotions were everywhere and knowing what to have the strength to fight and the bravery to allow to happen was next to impossible.

"I'm an ADA, which means I am a lawyer who works with the police like your daddy and when I'm in the courtroom people have to listen to me. They have to do what I say or otherwise they go to jail. So, if you squeeze my hand because you're in pain or just finding it too upsetting, I will tell the doctor or nurse to stop. I'm an ADA, so therefore they will-" Alex attempts to explain this in a way that would give the eleven year old some confidence that she wasn't about to be thrown to the wolves.

To everyone's surprise however, Savannah interrupts the blue eyed blonde and manages to whisper out, with her head slightly bowed from fear.

"-have to do it." Savannah finishes Alex's sentence and in returns earns a bright grin from the lawyer who nods in agreement and bends a little lower in order to look into this beautiful chocolate brown orbs once more.

'How Olivia does this for a living is beyond me. I feel as though I'm walking on the shattered pieces of Savannah's heart here.' The inner voice of the ADA comments, relief somewhat filling her lungs knowing she at least has somewhat gained Savannah's trust.

"Exactly. They have to do it and they will do it." Alex adds with a slight wink which for a brief moment ignites a spark behind otherwise drained brown eyes. There was an everyday eleven year old girl lost somewhere in Savannah but she was fighting to be free, just like Savannah had when she shouted for her rescuer.

Alex smiles and feels Savannah's small hand delicately intertwine their fingers before letting out a shaky breath and faintly nodding her head. It was a silent gesture that although terrified she was willing to allow the doctor's to finally examine her properly and help her but also it was a plea for the beautiful, blue eyed woman to keep her promise and stick with her throughout it.

Once again taken back by this child's strength, Alex delicately squeezes the much smaller hand now gripping onto hers and nods confidently in agreement to the young brunette's plea. Gently and carefully raising Savannah's hand from the bed rail, the long time prosecutor brings it to her lips and places a delicate kiss to the small patch of skin not bandaged in some way.

"I'm not going anywhere and the second you squeeze is the second they stop. Just remember that and focus on me and this will all be done before you know it." Alex soothes, her eyes for a moment glancing towards Doctor Jennings who was beyond thankful for the help the ADA had provided so far

Savannah shuffles closer to the side rail of the bed, her eyes watching as the beautiful woman who came from the night to save her places a kiss on the back of her hand. The eleven year old feels a frown form for a second but dismisses it once Alex assures her that all it was going to take to stop any pain was a squeeze of her hand.

"You promise?" Savannah questions tentatively, her voice only audible to herself and Alex who was now huddled as close as she could get to the young girl without climbing into the bed with her.

Alex finds a smile cross her lips at the question and although in part it rips at her heart, it also warms it at the same time. Nodding in agreement the model worthy blonde locks her eyes with Savannah's once more and uses her body to block out the view of anyone else for the eleven year old.

"I promise." Alex assures as Savannah's chocolate brown orbs stare deep into the crystal blue counterparts belonging to the lawyer and seemingly accept the woman's promise to be true.

Hospitals were the definition of hell for Casey, she did everything humanly possible to avoid them at all costs. Half of the reason she had recently decided to kick in the cigarette habit she'd picked up during a stressful case a year back, was for the fear of ending up in a hospital.

Hazel eyes take notice of everything around the ADA as the police presence slowly starts to dwindle back down. It was known Savannah wasn't in critical condition and with Victor still missing, it was believed their time was better spent doing their respective jobs. For the most part it was only a few of the higher ups still lingering, they were hovering and Casey could tell piecing together some kind of statement to release to the swarming press just outside the doors.

'Finding a way to spin this is going to be fun.' Casey mentally comments to herself as she continues to watch people far above her pay grade scrambling around to get something together.

Pulling her long, strawberry blonde locks back over her head, the confident attorney decides to make her move. Casey's heels click against the floor of the hospital as she makes her way across to one of the less frustrated looking police superiors.

"ADA Novak, aren't you a sight for sore eyes during such times?" The older man comments, his hand reaching for Casey's with his dark eyes being anything but subtle at what was peeking his interest.

Used to this kind of behaviour, her entire career, the tall prosecutor forces a nod and has to bite her tongue to stop from giving a sarcastic response. As tempting as it was, it wasn't worth her job and so far he'd hardly perpetrated a hanging offence.

"Captain Delany, nice to see you too sir." Casey replies in her best 'playing nice' voice as she shakes the older man's hand before nodding towards the thick folder the Captain had been studying.

After everything Doctor Jennings had revealed, the prosecutor in Casey was chomping at the bit for more information. It was obvious Captain Bruno was anything but the hard working, commendable and treasured police officer he betrayed to the world but Casey still needed evidence and the best place to start was digging into his background as much as possible.

"Have you known Captain Bruno for long or overly well? This is so tragic and so far there hasn't been that much anyone has known about him." Casey tests the waters carefully, the Captain's eyes still finding it hard work to actually look above her collar bones but the strawberry blonde would use it to her advantage.

'Uh, I can smell the whiskey on his breath. This is not going to be fun.' Casey's inner voice comments as her body does everything not to show any recognition of the officer's liquid breakfast.

Finally able to meet Casey's hazel eyes, the much older Captain nods his head and leans his forearm over the nurse's station he was stood beside. The job had taken its toll over the years and the bags under Captain Delany's eyes could smuggle in contraband. He was a grizzled veteran of the NYPD but had found himself stagnant when it came to progressing any further up the career ladder. By the smell being breathed on her, the young ADA was starting to see why.

"I've known Victor since he was in his blue's pounding the streets. Good kid, straight laced, went by the book you know? Always kept to himself but I think his wife walking out on him and leaving him with a five year old just pushed him even more inward." Captain Delany reveals with that rough voice which spoke of years of alcohol abuse and most likely heavy smoking.

'Liv did say she heard something about a wife. I wonder if she left because of abuse? But then why leave her baby girl behind to suffer the brunt?' Casey's prosecutor mind ponders the possibilities all while nodding and smiling towards the grey haired Captain in front of her.

"Has anyone been able to get in contact with her? I mean, she left but Savannah is her child and right now the only parent the poor girl has." Casey questions, her genuine concern for the girl evident in her voice as well as the widening of her hazel eyes.

The captain instantly scoffs at the young strawberry blonde's suggestion, his hand resting over his chest with a hearty laugh escaping his abused lungs.

"Regina? I highly doubt she has interest in the child's well fare, let alone Victor's. She was a lot younger you see, quite the stunning piece and wild. Victor tamed her, married her and thought, foolishly that being a mother would keep her grounded. I'm surprised she lasted the five years she did before doing her disappearing act. No, if you ask me that poor girl is better off with no one then whatever hooker mess her mother must be by now." The captain states confidently, his disdain for Savannah's mother anything but subtle but it was helping put some pieces together if nothing else.

Casey feels part of her heart drop inside her chest, as if Savannah's life hadn't already been tragic now it was coming out she had an absentee mother, who seemingly just abandoned her and left her to fend for herself.

"You don't think Regina could have had anything to do with what happened last night do you? Some kind of revenge or attempt to regain custody of her daughter?" Casey asks, deep down already knowing the answer but having to ask all the same.

Shaking his head furiously in disagreement, Captain Delany's jowls flop from side to side before he takes hold of the stunning ADA's hand and tugs her in closer.

"Not a chance. No, this seems targeted and personal but far too…. Organised to be Regina. Between you and me, she was a working girl who found her golden goose, milked it dry and ran for the hills. That woman hasn't looked back and never will. This is probably all to do with one of Victor's cases, someone he pissed off by putting away and they're out for blood." The captain surmises with a strong air of confidence in regard to this having nothing to do with Victor's ex wife Regina.

It's then that one of the other high up's beckons Delany over and causes the half cut Captain to grumble under his breath before saying a quick goodbye to Casey and heading to where he was needed. Due to the man's intoxication levels and his eyes spending more time in her cleavage than anything else, the attorney is able to get her hands on the folder that Captain Delany had previously been studying.

As an ADA and the one who was going to be assigned to this case when the time came, Casey would soon have her hands on all the folders, files and information regarding to Captain Bruno she could ever want. However something about this one seemed off, not so much official as something thrown together and quickly passed between the NYPD high ups.

With a glance inside the manila folder, Casey's hazel eye quickly realise this folder filled with surveillance photos and detailed reports on the Captain's movements dating back at least a year. In all of them though, there was not one sign of Savannah even existing let alone appearing in a photo or even in a comment.

'What in the hell is going on?' Casey mentally questions before using her phone, as discreetly as she can to take photos of everything this folder contained. A gut instinct was screaming at the strawberry blonde that this information would not be included when she eventually got all of Captain Bruno's paperwork and files. Just what kind of a mess was poor Savannah trapped in the middle of here?

Once Doctor Jennings is ready to proceed she nods towards a nervous Alex to indicate this examination was about to begin. With a sudden lump now lodged in her throat, the tall blonde just smiles down at Savannah, who was still gripping her hand and strokes some hair tenderly from her young face.

The movement causes the tanned child to freeze completely but as Alex's hand just moves the few stray hairs a relieved sigh escapes Savannah's lungs and her breathing starts up once more. Savannah's understandable reaction pierces Alex's heart like a shard of glass and causes the blonde to want to kick herself in the face for being so insensitive but that could happen later, right now she had to focus on the little brunette.

"You ready Savannah? Doctor Jennings is going to help you get into a hospital gown now and then make sure you don't have any more cuts or anything that need attention. Now don't worry because I am here, right here and I won't be going anywhere." Alex assures with a steady voice although inwardly she felt about ready to shatter.

'No adult let alone child should have to go through this. How have I worked for so long surrounded by this and yet it's only now I am facing the cold, harsh reality?' Alex's inner voice comments in the back of her mind as the young brunette in the hospital bed, hesitantly nods and sits herself up in the bed with a struggle.

The pain was etched on her face but not a single grimace or hiss escapes her lungs though. Savannah was trembling from head to toe but her small hand was securely locked onto Alex's without any sign of lessening. The young girl's eyes avert completely from the dark haired doctor but with a strong intake of breath, Savannah does allow the tatters of her clothes to be removed, her head bowed down looking at the floor.

Alex's usually model like stance was now hunched over as she stands beside the hospital bed, connected by a strong grip with this traumatised eleven year old. The long time prosecutor's blue eyes watch over Savannah as if she was a china doll about to break.

The clothes were dirty and clearly painted with different stages of dried blood and only god knows what else. Once in the evidence bags, it is obvious just how tiny this supposed eleven year old girl truly was. Her frame was almost painful to see, bones protruding through naturally olive skin which was littered with a collage of scars, burns, bruises and swelling.

Alex feels her glasses begin to react to the brimming tears now swimming in her eyes and quickly uses her free hand to wipe under each eye. Her breath was stolen and all the blonde could do was lean a little closer to Savannah in order to whisper into her ear.

"You're doing great Savannah, so good. You okay so far? Remember, you just have to squeeze my hand." Alex coos out with real effort not to let her threatening tears make any kind of appearance in her voice.

The small brunette now sat with her legs hanging off the side of the bed just faintly nods. Right now, the warmth of the kind prosecutor's hand was all that was anchoring her and as long as she focused on that she was okay.

Doctor Jennings outwardly doesn't react, a trick years of being in her profession had taught her but it wasn't easy. Giving Savannah a kind smile the raven haired woman scans the eleven year olds body for any injuries that needed her attention immediately.

There were the restraint marks across her chest, upper abdomen, hips, upper thighs and knees that all needed to be cleaned and dressed but as far as the experienced doctor could tell no stitches would be required. The marks were deep and had bleed for sometime before naturally attempting to heal, it likely was the reason for the dried blood found on Savannah's clothing and the blood that was reported to be on her mattress. Going from the even more evident previous scars, this happened a lot and for long periods each time. Although not life threatening wounds, over time they would be extremely painful and run a high risk of infection.

Savannah's skin was understandably irritated, red raw around where the ropes had been sliced into her skin like cheese wire. There were scars likely caused by different degrees and kinds of burns which littered Savannah's young body as well, not a numerous as the bruises or cuts but still numerous and of different stages of healing. Then there were the bruises and swelling dotted across the child's body, from the neck down it was almost like looking at some kind of horror Dalmatian. The multi coloured bruises all varying in size and time since forming were almost too many to count. Some were black, some purple, some yellow, some green and some red and more swollen. The only thing they had in common was they littered this poor girl's body with barely a patch of skin un affected by what looked like systematic and frequent beatings.

Doctor Jennings raises her gaze across the bed and for a brief moment locks eyes with Alex. The taller of the two women was subtly shaking her head in disbelief of what she was witnessing first hand. Suddenly all of those parents who were unwilling made a lot more sense to the long time prosecutor than they ever had before.

"Savannah, would it be okay if nurse Rogers here takes some pictures of your injuries?" The raven haired doctor asks as tentatively as she possibly can but even so her words still cause Savannah's breathing to become strained.

Alex can feel the reaction as it runs through Savannah's entire being, her body only the start. Nodding her head as an encouragement more to herself than the terrified child, the tall blonde leans a little closer once more.

"It's okay Savannah, I'm still here and I will be right here while the nurse does it. It's so the police can know what has happened to you without having to put you through this again." Alex attempts to explain just why this little brunette was going to be photographed like a sick and twisted college project.

The feeling of utter helplessness which erupts inside the long time ADA is physically painful. The lawyer side of Alex's mind was trying to argue that this was procedure and necessary. Unfortunately that was indeed true but it didn't stop the newly discovered side of the blonde's mind from screaming for this all to just stop.

'She is eleven years old, eleven. She can barely keep herself sitting and now her young body is going to be looked over, examined, poked and prodded like some medical school specimen. The worst part is I know it has to happen, I don't want it to but it has to.' Alex's debating inner voice rants silently as Savannah sinks a little further into a hunched over position.

The smaller hand still intertwined at the fingers with Alex's was unmoving, it has yet to squeeze so all the apprehensive councillor could do was take it as permission this was all still okay and to carry on.

Lifting her gaze back to the awaiting one of the doctor, Alex reluctantly just gives a small shrug of her shoulders and nod of her head. As deeply as the ADA's heart was aching this was actually for Savannah's benefit and Alex was in no position to cause it to stop.

"Okay Savannah, don't worry we will take this very slowly and like Alex said if you want us to stop just squeeze her hand." The doctor announces as Savannah twitches with every word spoken but seems to still resist from actually giving that squeeze to end this all. Her bravery clearly having not been exaggerated by the woman who found her at all.

Alex feels the tightness in her chest increase tenfold as the nurse takes the camera out ready to begin. Closing her eyes briefly just to collect herself the tall prosecutor reminds herself that this is about Savannah and getting her through this, nothing else.

"You are doing so well sweetheart and hey, I'm still here okay? I'm right here with you and I'm not going anywhere." Alex repeats her words from earlier like a mantra, hoping desperately that maybe just possibly the fact she was there was doing some good.

Back out in the waiting area Casey was currently looking over the photos she had taken with her phone of the contents inside Captain Delany's manila folder. Seemingly Savannah's missing father, Captain Victor Bruno had been under some kind of investigation for a considerable amount of time.

'None of this is official though, no police reports or mentions of just who has been keeping the captain under surveillance.' Casey's inner voice points out as the councillor continues to examine each photo she had taken looking for any kind of useful information.

The questions of just what Captain Victor Bruno was under investigation for and by who were not going to be answered by these documents that was obvious. However just the fact that a fellow NYPD Captain had been in possession of the folder containing this seeming unofficial documentation meant there was something underhanded going on and quite possibly was trying to be swept under the carpet.

It was a sad fact that you learnt when involved with the so called 'Justice System', the corruption located within it was often more vibrant than anywhere else. Now that isn't to say that there aren't still good, hard working people doing their jobs properly and for the right reasons because of course there are. Unfortunately though working against them were the ones who would slaughter their own mother just to save their own ass and keep their dirty secrets buried.

Bringing the plastic lid of the vending machine coffee to her plump lips to take a sip, Casey's hazel eyes look out over at the remaining NYPD presence still lingering. The majority were either glorified pen pushers, someone who worked at the precinct Captain Bruno was a part of or a rather dishevelled and nervous looking NYPD officer either of the same ranking as Victor or above him. Something about this entire situation was causing Casey to become uneasy and her instinct was screaming for the strawberry blonde to be on high alert.

Casey was struggling to figure out what the best course of action was for her to take next. Obviously there were going to be people around this investigation that she would be unable to trust but without a doubt if there was going to be any hope of actually getting any answers then this new information was going to have to be investigated and revealed at some point. The question was just who could the strawberry blonde trust with such sensitive information when there was so little to go on but also a cover up was already beginning to take place?

'Olivia, she is the definition of a good cop and as honest as they come. If I can't trust her with this then I can't trust anyone.' Casey answers her own question silently as her hazel eyes continue to observe the lingering NYPD presence still in the waiting area.

There were far too many whispers and not so discreet looks being shared around the higher ups for Casey not to worry. Just whatever Alex had stumbled upon when she found Savannah the younger ADA wasn't sure but whatever it was, it now had a lot of people truly rumbled and that was never a good sign.

The first ultra distressing thing noticed as Doctor Jennings and her nurse began to document Savannah's injuries was the fact the eleven year old had been wearing no underwear. It was noted between Alex and Doctor Jennings just through a worried and partly defeated glance shared across the hospital bed. Both women knew what this piece of the puzzle was pointing towards and it only made their hearts sink that much lower.

It had been silently decided that neither of them would question Savannah about her injuries or anything that is found during the examination so they instead were left swallowing their concerns and soldiering through. Unfortunately for Olivia and whatever detective she would bring with her later, they would be tasked with the unimaginable heartbreak of having to ask an eleven year old why she was without underwear, not to mention everything else.

Savannah's injuries were numerous so getting them all documented as well as photographed, so many pictures, took time and by the end the young girl was struggling to keep herself sitting up. Doctor Jennings did her best to move quickly but so many of the poor child's injuries had to be cleaned and dressed in some way so that made everything take just that much longer.

Alex could tell the small brunette was on the verge of tilting over and so delicately uses the front of her body for Savannah to lean back against in the final few moments, as she stands beside her and still holds her small hand.

"Okay Savannah, I am sorry that took so long but you were fantastic. The photographs are all done now and we have cleaned up and bandaged some areas to hopefully help with that soreness you must have been feeling. The good news is now you can slip this gown on if you like and lie back properly on the bed and get comfortable." The raven haired doctor announces into the otherwise quiet room.

Throughout everything Savannah had been completely silent, not so much as a whimper leaving her young lungs. How someone so young, fragile and exhausted had been able to contain what must be excruciating pain caused from her injuries was terrifying to think about. In fact the only instance when it seemed Savannah was going to voice anything, was when the nurse had asked Alex to let go of the eleven year olds hand.

Before the drained, hurting and still trembling brunette was able to make a sound though, Alex had quickly taken over. In full control of the situation and everyone in the room, the tall blonde had moved herself around the bed and taken Savannah's free hand without breaking her previous grip until the new one was formed. The young brunette didn't react in any way, not even looking up. Instead, once her fingers were again intertwined with the ADA's Savannah just softly brushed her thumb over the older woman's thumb bone. A silent message that she appreciated what Alex had done and that she was indeed okay to continue.

With the camera now put away and the information she was allowed to put on some clothing and return to laying down on the bed, Savannah's head lifts, just slightly and only enough so she can turn to glance at Alex. The child's multicoloured skin was pimpled you would think from the relatively cold temperature of the hospital room but anyone could tell her trembles weren't from the chill but instead from terror.

Sensing that she was being called upon for some form of help, Alex bends down, slightly forward as she is still supporting the eleven year old as she sits on the bed. With her ear now level with Savannah's mouth, the prosecutor is hopeful that perhaps the small brunette had something she wanted to tell her.

'Oh please say something Savannah, no child should be quiet like this for so long.' Alex mentally pleads her desperation to try and help the young girl feel better only growing with each second.

Savannah nervously twitches as her long, brown locks fall in front of her face like a curtain. Feeling somewhat contained the eleven year old breathes out a shaky breath and ever so slightly turns more into the tall woman both holding her hand and keeping her up right.

"Will… you… help… me… please?" Savannah's sweet but strained voice whispers, every ounce of terror she must be feeling echoing throughout her shaky words but at least she had said something.

Alex's face breaks out into a genuine smile from hearing Savannah's young voice, despite its fear. An odd sensation of relief and happiness mix together within the ADA along with a gut wrenching pain knowing this poor girl had been through so much and was unfortunately continuing to suffer in some form.

"Of course I can sweetheart. I'll ask doctor Jennings and Nurse Rogers to go outside the curtain and wait while I help you with the gown and we get you comfortable on the bed okay?" Alex instantly answers, her words instructing the raven haired doctor and her nurse what to do while at the same time hopefully assuring Savannah.

Savannah faintly nods in agreement but doesn't move in any other way until the tall blonde's actions are carried out and the hospital curtain is pulled fully around the bed cubical once both the doctor and nurse have exited.

Now just the two of them behind the thin material, Alex gives a smile to the exhausted child and moves so she is now stood fully in front of Savannah who was still sat on the edge of the bed. With their hands still connected the tired attorney crouches down a little more and looks directly into the young girl's eyes to let her know it was in fact just them.

"You were so brave Savannah, I hope that you know that." Alex praises Savannah with a smile as she reaches for the gown which was resting beside the young brunette on the bed.

Savannah's eyes were swimming with tears but her cheeks were somehow dry, how she had stopped herself from crying another mystery that Alex was sure she would never want to know the answer to. The eleven year old glances from crystal blue eyes to the hospital gown and then back to the woman who had become her saviour, almost asking permission.

'She wants to put this on but thinks she needs me to tell her she can? Can't blame her for wanting to cover herself up after what she has just endured.' The long time attorney mentally comments as she enthusiastically nods her head and gives her best smile to hopefully ease some of Savannah's nervousness.

Feeling the naturally olive skinned girl relax her grip and tentatively release her small hand from Alex's, the taller blonde feels a surge of emotion crash into her heart. It was such a small thing and yet here Alex was finding herself wanting to almost instantly react and take back the precious, little hand back into the safety of her own.

Resisting the intense instinct however, Alex just smiles and watches as Savannah's face grimaces from pain as she raises her arms in order to put them through the large arm holes of the gown. Yet again, the brunette remains completely silent, the only indicator of the agony she is in being the way every muscle on her face contorts and the little jolt that runs through her like an electric shock.

Holding her breath at seeing the small brunette in such pain, Alex makes quick work of easing the hospital gown around Savannah's mismatched and trembling body. The gown was miles too big but with a tight knot of the strings at the back Alex manages to make it work.

Now covered up, at least for the most part, Savannah's shoulders slowly fall down from their more hunched position. A breath escapes her lungs and for a split second she almost seems relieved but of course it was only relatively.

"There you go darling, here lets lay you back and get you comfortable okay?" Alex suggests, her voice trying to keep it's cheerfulness but it was a struggle to say the least.

The older woman cautiously ghosts her hands either side of Savannah's fragile body as the eleven year old scoots herself back on the bed and swings her legs back around so they are once again on the mattress. The pain which rips through Savannah from the movements is silent but the single tear that travels down her tanned cheek is not missed by Alex's crystal eyes.

Watching as the warm liquid makes its escape, Alex feels the dams she had built within her eyes threaten to crumble. Somehow though, through the lenses of her glasses the long serving attorney just observes the bravery of this little girl and withholds her own strangling emotions.

Melting back into the pillows Alex quickly puffs up, Savannah audibly lets out a sigh of relief. The exhaustion wasn't so much sneaking up on the eleven year old now as hitting her head on.

"Okay, are we all comfortable now?" Alex asks sweetly as she retakes her position beside Savannah's bed and grips the cold metal railing to pull the child sides back up.

Savannah lifts her hand which was containing the IV of fluids to rehydrate her body and wipes away the remains of her single shed tear which by now had dropped off of her chin. The young girl nods to answer the attorney but was understandably still on edge knowing there was more to this examination to come.

A heaviness enters Alex's heart as she watches this child fight her emotions along with the repercussions of the ordeal she has suffered through. Deciding to try and be of some comfort the blonde attorney reaches out with her delicate hand and offers it to Savannah again with a soft smile gracing her lips.

"I'm still here Savannah and you still only have to squeeze my hand and this will end." Alex reminds the drained brunette as Doctor Jennings and her nurse take the indication from the conversation that they could renter the small cubical.

Locking her chocolate brown orbs with Alex's blue counterparts once more, Savannah blindly reaches for the lawyer's hand and easily slips her small digits in between Alex's in a now familiar and comforting grip.

"Savannah, you have done very well so far but there is just a few more things that we need to do. Now, I want you to know that at any time if you feel uncomfortable, in pain or you've just had enough then all you have to do is let us know and we will stop." Doctor Jennings explains cautiously, her eyes for a split second glancing to Alex who knew all too well what the things left to do actually were.

'Just focus on Savannah and being here for her. That is all you can do right now Alex.' Alex informs herself silently as a weak attempt to stop the crippling urge to stop this from going any further.

Once more Savannah avoids looking in the direction of Doctor Jennings or her nurse and instead uses her long hair as a shield from the world. Cautiously though the brunette turns her head just enough so through the curtain of her hair she can make out the beautiful blonde still holding her hand.

Bending slightly so she is eye level with the brave eleven year old now about to go through something no one, let alone a child should have to, Alex feels a strength overcome her. Savannah was brave enough to go through all of this without so much as a whimper than a grown woman was more than capable of at least holding her hand and reminding this poor child that she is not alone.

With a soft nod of her head, the long time ADA locks eyes with Savannah and stares deeply into the child's emotion filled eyes. Gently with her free hand Alex reaches up cautiously and to her surprise Savannah doesn't tense or flinch at the movement. Taking this is a good sign the tall blonde delicately uses her fingertips to stroke across Savannah's forehead and eases the terrified child' head to relax a little further into the puffed up pillows underneath her head.

"Just one squeeze and it will stop, I promise." Alex breathes out softly as Savannah's eyelids flutter and eventually but cautiously close shut.

Alex holds back a sudden rush of tears that invade her eyes and just continues to stroke ever so softly over the eleven year olds forehead before nodding towards Doctor Jennings that the next part of this examination could begin.

* * *

 ** _Now, I have left it there for a reason in this chapter. Although I could go into the detail of what happens during Savannah's pelvic exam, my heart just doesn't have the strength. Also I wouldn't want to upset anyone by going into too much detail and knowing me I would. I am hoping I can achieve the same outcome with what happens in the next chapter._**

 ** _Now in the next chapter as a little tease I can tell you all that Alex and Casey share a rather important moment... their first of something and that is all I will say. hehehe._**

 ** _So once again thank you all so much for reading this story and to those of you who take the time to let me know what you're thinking, feeling, expecting, sensing and anything else in between (if any of you do) then you have my biggest thanks imaginable. You make this story continue by giving me such priceless information in your reviews and believe me I read each one and take everything that is said in them on board, so thank you!_**

 _ **Until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	5. On The Bathroom Floor

_**Before I get into anything else, I need to say a huge thank you to**_ LOCISVU _**for letting me know and pointing out a HUGE, MASSIVE BLUNDER on my part. Apparently at some point my mind went into another world and started typing Captain Victor Bruno's last name as Deluca. I have no explanation or excuse, it was just a fuck up on my part and I porously apologise if it has caused any confusion when trying to read this story. I have gone back and re read everything and as far as I know corrected all of those stupid mistakes. If you notice any I miss please feel free to let me know where they are and I will quickly fix it. Anyway, thank you**_ LOCISVU _ **for bringing it to my attention.**_

 _ **Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to leave me a review on top of reading this story. I know it's very easy not to but I cannot tell you all how truly helpful each one is to me. I read every single one and truly try to take on what you guys say, want, feel, suspect and everything in between to try and make this as interesting for you all as I can. So thank you all so very much!**_

 _ **So anyway, I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

" **On The Bathroom Floor"**

It is an abrupt movement which causes the swinging doors which lead into the treatment area to fling open. The force from Alex's hands was responsible as they smack against the solid hospital doors and send each one snapping back until they hit the wall with a loud thud.

The sound echoes throughout the hospital and catches the attention of everyone still in the waiting room area but no one more so than Casey. The strawberry blonde attorney lifts her gaze from her phone screen and snaps over to the battered doors which reveal Alex striding through them at great speed.

'Crap, something must have happened. She looks as though she may throw up.' Casey mentally notices as her legs push her up to her feet within half a second ready to follow after her fellow counsellor.

Alex's long legs carry her slim frame across the waiting area and straight towards the nearest bathroom. Her head is down, one hand clutching over her mouth and her pace brisk to say the least. Everyone is having to move, spin, jump or just duck out of the ADA's path as the normally elegant and stoic blonde barges her way through anyone and anything in her way.

Casey is quick on the blonde's trail though, her course through the hospital staff and patients a little less like a bulldozer however. A rounded shoe toe manages to wedge it's self between the bathroom door and doorframe just before it slams shut. With a quick flick of her foot Casey pushes the door open and makes her way fully inside, not even two seconds behind Alex.

Before the slightly less experienced ADA can open her mouth to call out to Alex, the sound of a retch rings inside the pristine bathroom, followed unfortunately straight after by yet another and another. Casey stops dead in her tracks realising Alex had indeed made her hasty exit of the treatment area to throw up, what that meant in the grand scheme of things was not reassuring.

Staring into the porcelain, white toilet bowl she is currently knelt in front of and hunched over, Alex inwardly groans. With her crystal blue eyes blurred from unshed tears and the repercussions of dry heaving so harshly, Alex blindly reaches for the flush. Thankfully the lawyer's glasses had been removed before they fell and were loosely hanging within Alex's left hand as she attempts to catch her breath.

'I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse that I have nothing to bring up.' Alex's inner voice comments as the fact she hadn't eaten a thing in well over twelve hours becoming painfully apparent from her inability to actually throw anything but bile up.

Breathing out slowly and urging her body to still from its trembling, Alex uses any strength her body had remaining to rise up from the bathroom floor and back to her feet. Her long legs were shaky to say the least but they managed to carry the long time prosecutor back out of stall that she didn't have the time to shut behind her.

With her vision still partially impaired, Alex isn't aware of anyone else's presence until a damp hand towel is being offered to her. Jolting from the shock, just slightly the tall attorney makes out the hazel eyes of one Casey Novak and somewhat relaxes.

Casey gives a weak attempt at a smile as a dishevelled looking Alexandra Cabot emerges from the bathroom stall. As the beautiful blonde accepts the offered towel, the slightly shorter of the two women takes a step back knowing crowding was likely the last thing Alex needed or wanted right now.

"Thank you." Alex squeaks out, her voice having not recovered from the dry retching or the emotions which had caused her to run out of that treatment room to begin with.

Dabbing at her suddenly dry lips, the more experienced of the two lawyers catches a glimpse of her reflection in the large wall length mirror sitting above the sinks. Alex had never been miss tanned but currently she was looking like a relative of Casper the friendly ghost on a sick day. Her normally well tamed locks were misplaced and yesterdays make-up was basically non-existent.

Not knowing what to say for once, Casey remains silent but keeps her hazel eyes trained solely on the exhausted ADA in front of her. Part of the strawberry blonde was desperate to ask questions but thankfully she knew better and was able to put the pieces together going by Alex's actions and that broken look trapped in the blonde's blue eyes.

Throwing the now used hand towel into the trash, Alex's hands reach out and grip onto the sturdy sink in front of her. If she didn't it wasn't a certainty that the prosecutor would remain standing so she was going to use what she had to her advantage.

Watching the way Alex's hands white knuckle the sink in front of her, Casey takes action and strides to the door of the bathroom and turns the lock. It doesn't go un noticed by the more experienced lawyer, who in turn raises a confused eyebrow to the strawberry blonde through the reflection of the mirror she is stood in front of.

'And just what do you think you're playing at?' Alex silently questions her work colleague, using nothing more than her steely glare as a way to communicate her question.

"Oh we are going to talk, I just did that so no one can interrupt us." Casey answers the non verbalised question boldly, any intimidation that the rumoured 'Ice Queen' may have had over the less well seasoned attorney nowhere to be found, whether in her voice, stance or the look in her hazel eyes.

Taken back both by Casey's confidence and the fact that apparently the strawberry blonde was telepathic, Alex feels her mouth drop open, just slightly. Ignoring her disbelief though, the still trembling ADA shakes her head in disagreement with Casey's statement and turns ready to make her way out of the bathroom.

"I am doing no such thing Casey, Savannah needs me. Now, move out of the way." Alex retorts sharply, her hands brushing down her blouse and skirt as she attempts to regain her composure.

Casey's plump lips upturn into a half smirk at Alex's assertion but her body makes no attempt to comply to the blonde's demands. Instead, the slightly shorter of the two women just crosses both of her arms over her chest and raises a challenging eyebrow instead.

Stopping mid stride, having not been expecting Casey to defy her, Alex lets out a huge huff of frustration. She did not have either the time or the patience for this right now.

"Casey, we are grown adults this is ridiculous. You know if I really wanted to I could make you move." Alex threatens, her slightly taller frame only growing straighter as an attempt to intimidate the younger ADA into complying.

'Oh, that is actually kind of cute. She really believes that is true.' Casey mentally scoffs at the beautiful blonde's statement but remains firm in both her physical stance and the fact that Alex was going nowhere.

Hanging her head back with an exasperated sigh, Alex closes her eyes for a moment to try and stop from losing her temper. With a slow intake of breath, the blue eyed lawyer returns her gaze with Casey and attempts to remain calm.

"Casey, move out of the way of the door and let me go back to Savannah. I need to make sure she is okay." Alex insists, her voice much more desperate than before but it is clear from the unflinching reaction from the shorter prosecutor Casey was unmoved.

Having had enough at this point, Alex's hands slap loudly against her thighs in frustration and she reaches to move Casey out of her way physically. As delicate hands grip around the tops of the younger woman's arms, Alex is met with an uncanny strength being shown by Casey who doesn't so much as sway from side to side at the blonde's attempts to move her.

'So Casey apparently has core strength to rival a statue. That is good to know right now.' Alex's flustered brain rants inwardly as her grip on the fellow attorney's biceps releases and all the tall blonde can do is huff in annoyance.

Slowly a tint of pink starts to rise up on Alex's high cheek bones, in any other circumstance this would earn a grin from Casey but not in this situation. Instead the younger of the two lawyers gives a sympathetic smile and uncrosses her arms from her chest.

"Savannah is with doctor Jennings, she is fine. You on the other hand, you're far from it." Casey laments seriously, her hand reaching out to touch Alex's arm but retreats as the more experienced ADA turns away and crosses both of her arms in a defensive manner.

Shaking her head in growing annoyance at the strawberry blonde, Alex laughs sarcastically before glaring at Casey with piercing blue orbs.

"That little girl is far from fine Casey. She is black and blue, covered from head to toe in marks, scars and even burns. She doesn't want to be touched, can barely make eye contact and has said three sentences if any. Does that sound like she is fine to you?" Alex rants, her words sharp and full of venom which in all honesty wasn't directed at Casey but was being shot at her all the same.

Knowing the usually together and composed lawyer in front of her was needing to let this out, Casey just slowly shakes her head. Her hazel eyes were glazed with tears hearing the hurt behind every one of Alex's words but also seeing the agony locked within her eyes at what she had seen and witnessed.

Pointing a shaking finger at Casey, Alex begins to move in a little closer to the strawberry blonde and just shakes her head. Crystal blue eyes were burning with emotion that the usually under control prosecutor could easily hide.

Casey knew this was not the moment to respond verbally so instead just continues to subtly shake her head, the growing sinking feeling inside her stomach obvious just by the look in her hazel eyes.

"No exactly it doesn't does it? That's because she isn't fine Casey, she is broken and hanging on by a thread and to top it all off…" Alex's voice breaks mid way through her sentence and with a heavy gulp the blonde closes her eyes before any of her threatening tears manage to escape.

With the sinking in her stomach transforming into a twisting the younger lawyer feels the urge to throw up herself. Tentatively though Casey instead pushes on and lets her hand wrap around Alex's wrist as they stand toe to toe in the bathroom of the hospital.

"What Alex, to top it off what?" Casey pushes softly, her voice a mere whisper but it is all that is needed in order to get the supposed 'Ice Queen' to crack.

Crystal blue eyes snap open wide, the unshed tears which had been swimming within them for hours now at the point of overflow. Inhaling a sharp, ragged breath Alex feels her knees buckle and any resolve or strength she had in the reserves abandon her all in the space of a split second.

Having been ready for this since Alex first emerged from the bathroom stall, Casey quickly uses the grip she has around the beautiful blonde's wrist to pull the taller woman in close. With Alex now pressed against her, Casey keeps her standing by wrapping her free arm around the slim figure of the long time ADA and lowers the both of them down to the floor slowly and gently.

"Someone, probably her father, has been raping her Casey." Alex whispers out the offending words with the last remaining air in her lungs before finally the stinging liquid trapped in her eyes spills over and Alex starts to cry.

Casey's chest tightens as the words fill the air and the sounds of Alexandra Cabot crying starts to echo in the thankfully otherwise empty bathroom. Now both on their knees on the cold floor of the hospital bathroom, the strawberry blonde attorney just holds Alex in that much closer and nods her head silently as her own eyes close momentarily.

What was there to say at such news? What could or should be said when you have just found out an eleven year old has been raped and likely for most of her young life? Words of any kind in this moment would fail, fail to do any good and succeed in only causing more heartache.

Alexandra Cabot was never someone who would allow herself to how such strong, unbridled emotions in public nut in this situation her usually impenetrable resolve was shattered. The lack of sleep mixed with heart wrenching emotions when dealing so up close and personal with such matters was a concoction that not even the famed 'Ice Queen' could fight off.

The sad truth was normally the only time Alex allowed herself to cry was when completely alone and most times hidden in the forgiving surroundings of complete darkness. It wasn't that her job or the subject matter she had been dealing with for fifteen years now didn't get to her, it was just the blonde had learnt how to hide the affects until she had complete privacy.

Since a young age the long time ADA had learnt keeping how she felt to herself was the safer and smarter option and throughout her life this assertion had only been reinforced and confirmed to be true. For her career at least this had paid off well for Alex but when it came to her personal relationships it was a hurdle to say the least.

"She's… eleven… years… old… Casey, eleven." Alex squeaks out painfully and with a sharp intake of breath between each word in order just to make a sound.

The warm tears cascade down perfect cheekbones and merge into Casey's crisp shirt with each strangled breath the tall blonde struggles to take in. Casey however doesn't do as Alex would have predicted, she doesn't flinch or pull away in order to bark at the older woman to pull herself together. Instead the strawberry blonde just envelops Alex with long, strong arms and is an unmovable resting post for the defeated ADA to cling onto.

Nodding regretfully to Alex's words, Casey allows her hazel eyes to open and feels a few tears slowly travel down her face in solidarity with the ones now wetting her shirt. The less experienced lawyer gulps still unable to formulate anything worthy of saying and instead rests her trembling chin onto the very top of Alex's head as they remain a fallen pile on the cold floor.

'What can I possibly say right now? Nothing, nothing at all.' Casey realises within the confines of her own mind as her eyes close once again and she attempts to just in that moment be there for the model worthy blonde now in her arms.

Alex's crying begins to lessen after nearly five, possibly ten minutes of an oddly comfortable and understandable silence between the two women. At this point her eyes felt like someone had poured salt into them and her cheek pressed against Casey's chest was moist from her own tears.

'Well fantastic, now I must seem not only psychotic but weak to Casey. Pull yourself together Alex, this is now how someone of your standing should conduct themselves.' Alex's inner voice harshly reprimands the blonde, very much in the fashion that for her entire life until her death her mother had done.

Realising the extent of her breakdown, the walls which had so suddenly crumbled frantically fight to rebuild. Alex lifts her head from the warm comfort of this stunning lawyer's chest and wipes furiously at her still damp face in order to eradicate any proof of what had just happened.

"I cannot apologise enough Casey, I am truly so sorry. I don't know what came over me but I promise you I will pay for your dry cleaning for your shirt." Alex assures frantically, her drained body struggling to find the strength to pull its self up from the oddly comfortable position intertwined with the fellow prosecutor.

Casey feels the warm presence begin to shift in her arms and has to wake herself to the realisation at some point the two of them would have to move. Blinking slowly a few times to clear her hazel orbs of her own tears and refocus on the current situation, Casey begins to shake her head in disagreement.

"Dry cleaning? Alex, come on seriously now do you actually think I have anything worth sending to the dry cleaners and not just throwing in the laundry?" The younger of the two women meekly attempts to joke, although her statement was actually true.

The comment works momentarily as the beautiful blonde still sat in front of her begins to frown with the smallest of tugs bringing up the corners of her lips. Blue eyes shimmer with a mix of confusion and amusement at Casey's words and in return the less experienced ADA flashes a bright smile.

'How is she able to make me even think about smiling in a moment like this?' Alex ponders silently as she finds herself deeply admiring the way Casey's teeth come into view as she smiles.

"Seriously Alex, you have nothing to apologise for." Casey kindly adds returning to a more serious tone as her hazel orbs search the still shimmering blue counterparts belonging to the more experienced lawyer.

Finding herself someone caught off guard by that way of thinking, Alex frowns once more and just shakes her head in disagreement. How could she not have something to apologise for when she had just blubbered into Casey's chest for near on ten minutes?

"I allowed my emotions to get the better of me Casey and caused you to end up sat on the bathroom floor with my snot and tears smeared across your ch… chest." Alex struggles to speak the final word, her eyes drifting to Casey's mentioned chest and suddenly becomes distracted by it.

'What the hell Alex, you are forty four years old and the sight of another woman's chest is apparently causing you to stutter?' Alex berates herself silently as she cautiously waits to see how the younger woman reacted to her rather teenage behaviour.

For a split second Casey's hazel eyes flash a more vibrant tint of green as the prim and proper Alexandra Cabot chokes on the word 'chest' but quickly swallows her juvenile thoughts back down again. The strawberry blonde does however give a soft, all be it teetering on the smug looking smile.

"I'll have you know I think of it as an honour to be covered in your snot and tears and believe you me this is hardly the first bathroom floor I've found myself on." Casey jokes once more anything to try and get another hint of a smile to grace Alex's beautiful lips.

Shaking her head, this time with an almost giggle escaping her lungs the slightly taller of the two women just closes her eyes and take in a breath. This was not the time or situation to be laughing and yet even if just for a moment, when with Casey all the evil, hurt and pain seemed to slip into the distance.

'I will take that near giggle as some kind of a win.' Casey comments inwardly before reaching out tentatively and brushing a few strands of blonde hair out of Alex's blue eyes.

Having not been expecting the sweet gesture, Alex nods her head in a slightly bewildered thank you before feeling the slightest of flushes rushing to her cheeks. Was she blushing? No, Alexandra Cabot did not blush, nope it just wasn't possible.

"I uh, I am sorry for keeping you hostage in here I just… I guess I could tell you needed to let it out and well I don't always think things through very well." Casey admits as her own apology leaves her plump lips and brings Alex's furrowed brow into this time a less intense frown.

'Now she is apologising to me for stopping me having that break down likely in front of an already distressed and traumatised child. Wow, way to skew things and lose perspective Alex.' The taller woman's inner mind chastises Alex silently and causes her to realise the favour that Casey did indeed do for her by preventing her from exiting the bathroom.

Shaking her head in complete disagreement at Casey's need to apologise to her, the more experienced ADA just lets out a sarcastic laugh.

"Well, I think you thought this situation through rather well. Although, crying like a small child is not how I prefer to spend my time, I will admit in this instance I needed to." Alex retorts, her mind and heart finally admitting what deep down she knew to be true long before a tear fell.

Relieved to hear the fellow attorney admit her crying had been needed, Casey just lightly nods in agreement. She couldn't lie, for a moment she had feared Alex may throttle her but at least this time the less experienced ADA had dodged that bullet.

Still sat together on the rather cold floor of the hospital bathroom didn't seem to be bothering either lawyer as they both make no effort to move. A silence does past between the two women though but it is oddly comfortable much like their positioning.

"I waited until they took Savannah down for a few more tests before I left." Alex announces out of the blue but with an urgency for Casey to understand she hadn't just abandoned a vulnerable child.

The information isn't what the younger of the two women had expected to hear but it also wasn't exactly news to her either. Something deep in her gut had told Casey that if the more experienced ADA had exited the treatment area she had done it without causing anymore upset for Savannah.

"I know, it's why I wasn't overly worried about you rushing back out of here to be with her." Casey answers confidently as her eyes kindly look into Alex's and tell the blonde that she was being completely honest.

Tilting her head to one side and raising her thin eyebrow in a questioning manner, Alex levels her younger counterpart with an unspoken question and need for further clarification how Casey had come to that assumption.

"I just knew you wouldn't have run out on her no matter what you had heard or seen. This girl has truly gotten to you and if Alexandra Cabot is anything at all she is thorough and incredibly loyal. I mean going on what I have heard and observed." Casey answers softly, her words affecting the blonde in front of her rather unexpectedly.

Nodding her head in deep appreciation for the fellow attorney's kind words, Alex has to silently will herself not to blush because that was not behaviour becoming of an 'Ice Queen', although to be fair that reputation may have already been tarnished.

"You see now I know that is a lie counsellor, there is no way you have heard such glowing things about me. I am renown for my steely demeanour and the ice water running through my veins." Alex corrects somewhat sarcastically but it was obvious from her tone there was at least some belief in what she was saying.

'How can someone as successful and confident as Alex Cabot seemingly have no faith in what her colleagues think of her?' Casey inner voice questions before she shakes her head in complete disagreement to the beautiful blonde's statement and narrows her hazel eyes in a way which told of her refusal to be persuaded otherwise.

Alex wipes at the lens of her glasses with an attempt to return her breathing to a less erratic pace. The dry retching mixed with a good ten minute crying session had done its work on the taller woman's overtired lungs. The blonde prosecutor was paying no attention to Casey's physical disagreements and so jumps just slightly as Casey's hand reaches out and delicately pats her knee.

The gentle touch of Alex's bare knee sends a pulse through Casey's fingertips but also causes the long time ADA's blue eyes to meet again with hazel ones, as had been Casey initial intention.

"That really isn't true Alex. I can tell you for a fact that Olivia, Fin, Amanda and Carisi all speak highly of you. Even Liz has you in her good graces and we both know that is not an easy feat. For someone so sure of herself in the courtroom you don't seem to carry that confidence with you." Casey surmises with a slight shrug of her shoulders as she fails to understand just how that is possible.

Narrowing her sapphire eyes in on Casey's, the taller of the two ADA's finds herself rather stuck for any kind of response and so instead just returns the shrug of her shoulders before returning to cleaning off her glasses with the end of her blouse.

Knowing when it was best to let sleeping dogs lie, Casey finds herself just admiring the way golden locks gently curtain themselves in front of Alex's face as she hunches over slightly while cleaning her glasses. Why was such a mundane movement capturing the strawberry blonde's attention so effortlessly?

"In court, for the most part at least I am in control. If I am not fully in control I know what I can and cannot do to make sure I regain it very quickly. Outside of the law and my job, control is something I crave but only because without it I am… lost." Alex reveals in a soft voice that Casey has to really strain to hear.

Casey remains silent but allows her hazel eyes to continue their observation of the beautiful blonde as she distracts herself physically with the cleaning of her glasses, which by now were most likely as clean as they were ever going to get.

"Standing there with Savannah, in that room holding her tiny, shaking hand as she had a pelvic exam performed on her is the exact reason I went into law and why I became an ADA." The more experienced prosecutor continues her unprompted revelation, all the while not lifting her gaze from her lap.

Nodding in understanding how Alex's words seemed to make sense, Casey continues to just watch the model worthy lawyer and most of all listen to what she clearly felt she needed to get off of her chest.

"Not for the reasons you are thinking though. I mean, of course those reasons are true to some degree. I do the job I do to take monsters off of the street and hopefully make the world just a little safer for children like Savannah but that's not the only reason. I work filing motions, researching law books and making my arguments to judges and jurors because I could never have the strength or resiliency to do what Olivia, Fin, Amanda and Carisi do day in and day out." The slightly older blonde explains, her words brimming with emotion which thankfully she no longer had the means to physically cry out.

'Yeah, I understand that feeling all too well.' Casey mentally sympathises with her fellow lawyer and instinctively reaches her hand out once more and places it delicately upon the bare knee belonging to Alex.

This time the contact doesn't make Alex jolt, it does however once again bring her bright blue eyes up from looking into her lap and reconnecting with Casey's hazel ones. The two fall silent but the connection made between Casey's warm hand on Alex's slightly colder knee was almost like a conversation all on its own.

"That doesn't make what you do any less important Alex and we both know just because our work is mostly confined to a court room setting that doesn't make it any less brutal or tough to stomach." Casey retorts, her thumb just delicately brushing back and forth across the smooth skin of her co-workers knee without any conscious thought.

Once more Alex finds herself touched by Casey's words and her tired face gives a very soft smile in return and in a sense conceding her defeat that in fact the younger ADA was correct. It was a win that the strawberry blonde lawyer was going to say counts but keeps her hand very much in its new found place resting on Alex's knee.

'She really is good at her job if she can argue me into admitting defeat.' Alex mentally chimes out before letting out a sigh with a heaviness once again building in her chest.

Sensing that there was so much the more experienced prosecutor was stopping herself from saying, Casey decides to try and coax the blonde into opening up, even if it is just a little more.

"You know the fact you're wanting to throw up and cry until you break just means your human Alex? No one, not even Olivia can be told that an eleven year old has been raped and not have the wind knocked out of them. I would be worried if you had reacted any other way and it certainly doesn't mean you have in some way let Savannah down." Casey pointedly informs the drained blonde in front of her, once more seemingly able to read Alex's thoughts without perhaps even realising it.

Now lifting her head up properly, Alex stares a hole into the younger woman's eyes and almost laughs at how utterly inconceivable it was that Casey was able to read her like a book. The glare coming from the sapphire eyes of the long time ADA causes Casey to fall silent but her stance remains strong and confident outwardly at least.

'Once again Casey Novak has presented me with an argument that I don't have a rebuttal for. I am going to put this down completely to my lack of sleep and nothing more.' Alex mentally informs herself in a half joking and half serious tone as a smug looking strawberry blonde fights the urge to grin.

Letting out a slow sigh of acceptance that she indeed had not let Savannah down by being helpless to do anything more than hold her hand Alex feels her eyes sting with that familiar urge to cry. Apparently the flood she had previously cried had not run the well dry like the lawyer had previously both hoped and thought.

"You know Savannah, she didn't make a sound to show she was in pain through any of the examination. She must have been though, in agony. Her poor body was … it's unlike anything I have ever seen before Casey, even working in this job as long as I have. Like you I have heard and seen some of the worst things people are capable of doing to one another but seeing what I saw in that treatment room, it's something else entirely." Alex admits, her voice now showing the tell tale signs of the fact her emotions were catching up with her once more.

Unable to stop herself any longer, Casey reaches from Alex's knee and just grips the tall blonde's hand and squeeze's it tightly in response. Her mind could only imagine just what those blue eyes had seen and she sadly knew no matter what she came up with, the truth and reality was without a doubt always going to be worse.

"You would think after fifteen years working with victims and looking at crime scene photos and hearing testimony I would be able to … deal with this but… when doctor Jennings looked me dead in the eye and said 'She has a broken hymen with signs of long term, ongoing abuse.' I nearly passed out." Alex's struggling voice explains with the urge to break once more building and building deep inside the lawyers chest but somehow Alex was fighting it back.

Starring into Casey's hazel eyes the more experienced ADA can see the glistening over start to form where the strawberry blonde was fighting her own eternal battle not to cry as well. Not knowing how else to respond Alex just tightly squeezes Casey's hand which was still holding her own and nods knowingly.

"And the worst part was, Savannah she just… she looked at me with tears in her eyes and… and she smiled Casey and she rubbed the back of my hand because she could tell I was upset. She was comforting me, a child who has been through the worst things imaginable was giving me comfort while she was in utter agony." Alex adds with her breath catching completely as she speaks before fresh, warm tears break the seal of her sapphire orbs and speed hurriedly down her cheeks.

By now, without even realising it Casey's own cheeks were becoming moist from tears leaving her eyes. Knowing nothing she said would be of any help whatsoever the slightly shorter of the two prosecutors just grips Alex's hand a little more securely and once more tugs the beautiful blonde back into her warm embrace as they each sit crumbled on the bathroom floor.

Never in her life before had Alex felt such relief and gratitude for someone else's presence as her body melts into Casey's and her chin rests it's self on the fellow attorney's shoulder. Nothing between the two was said verbally but their grip on one another was strong and not about to be broken for anything in the entire world.

It is nearly another five minutes of silence between the two ADA's as they remain entangled in one another's arms and comfort before one of them makes any attempt to try and pull back. It is Casey who is the one to just softly nudge Alex back slightly but only so she can reach her hand up towards the hand towel dispenser and manages to tug a few down in to her grasp without actually having to get up.

"Here, look at me." Casey instructs the slightly older blonde and to her shock finds Alex actually complies and lifts her head from its comfortable resting position against the younger woman's shoulder.

'I am not sure I have seen her without her glasses on before. God, they are the clearest blue I think I have ever seen.' Casey's inner voice notes silently as her mind realises the significance of Alex's glasses having been removed and by now placed to the floor.

Staring deep into those glistening sapphire orbs, Casey has to make a mental note as to what she had intended to do in the first place. With soft and delicate hands she reaches up and cups Alex's chin with her index finger and thumb and then uses her free hand, containing the hand towel to wipe away the evidence that Alex had ever shed a single tear.

Alex is stunned by such a tender and caring gesture and to her shock finds herself allowing Casey to delicately clean up her face. The entire time though the more experienced attorney keeps her eyes watching the strawberry blonde and finds herself becoming lost in this other woman completely.

'How have I known her for five years and yet never noticed how kind she is or the fact her eyes are so expressive?' Alex's inner voice ponders as if finally seeing her colleague for the very first time.

As the model worthy skin belonging to Alex is brought back to its natural glory, Casey finds herself still tentatively cupping the other woman's chin and herself now locked in an emotional gaze with her workmate. It is as if both ADA's are hypnotized and neither was making any effort to be released from the strong pull the other was emitting.

"My turn." Alex informs Casey in a mere whisper as she takes a few spare hand towels from the strawberry blonde's hand and begins to perform the same soft, sweet action of cleaning up Casey's tear stained face in return.

'How have we ended up here, in this position on the bathroom floor? Am I going to wake up in the midst of a whiskey hangover and realise this is all some elaborate alcohol fuelled dream?' Casey mentally wonders as her mind struggles to believe Alex's body was so close right now to her own.

Blue eyes seep into hazel ones as long fingers rest so softly against smooth skin where Casey continues to keep control of the elegant blonde's chin. Slowly and without any conscious thought, Alex's still slightly shaky right hand stops it's motion of wiping at Casey's cheeks and lowers back down, discarding the towel to the floor on the journey. Gradually the blonde's now empty hand finds a new place on Casey's body as it rests on her hip and their respective heartbeats suddenly quicken.

A mutual feeling overcomes both attorney's as the distance between them seems to become less with every passing beat of their hearts, second passing and breath exiting their lungs. Casey feels her chest tighten as any understanding of their surroundings disappears completely from her mind and her gaze lowers from Alex's eyes to her ever so slightly parting lips.

The strongest of urges burns like a fire inside the pit of Alex's stomach as her own gaze watches hazel eyes seemingly examine her lips. How and why this was happening, now of all times and places was a mystery but in this exact moment it was the last thing in the world that the breathtaking blonde cared about. All Alex wanted was for the very last few inches between herself and Casey to be removed and she found herself leaning slowly closer to her younger counterpart in order to make that wish come true.

Casey's mouth was suddenly dry as the warmth of Alex's gentle breathing brushes across her ever closer growing skin. The intense pull both women were feeling was only increasingly as blue eyes once more connect with hazel ones and pupils dilate to the size of saucers. A pulsating heat bubbles up between the two lawyers as the proximity between them continues to decrease but their touch on one another's body causes skin to tingle.

There is a flinch which ripples through Casey's hand and ends up causing her thumb to run like a feather under Alex's plump lower lip. It is a movement that is slow and elicits the stunning blonde lawyers lungs to release a strained gasp as her already partly open mouth drops a little wider. With their gaze still firmly locked on one another's eyes the younger of the two ADA's hooks her index finger a little tighter around Alex's chin and with her thumb now dancing on the very edge of Alex's lips, gives a soft tug closer to herself that blindly the blonde follows.

Alex's body stills but happily allows herself to be drawn closer to the burning flame that is Casey Novak and her ever alluring ruby lips. Crystal blue eyes glance down at the enticing cushions before snapping back to read the look within Casey's hazel eyes. It was a look of permission or perhaps a look daring the less experienced woman to take the final plunge and do what so obviously the both of them wanted.

Whatever the look was or wasn't it causes the same response when long eyelashes flutter against Casey's still slightly moist cheeks as the strawberry blonde closes her eyes and finally fully closes the gap between herself and Alex.

With her mouth already slightly a gape, Alex feels the plump lower lip belonging to Casey merge so perfectly between the both of her own. In the instance the two pairs of lips touch, sapphire eyes shut and another gasp escapes the slightly taller woman's lungs. The sensation of the soft, velvet textured lips pressing into her own brings a haze across Alex's mind but a welcome one all the same.

Casey's grip on the stunning blonde's chin softens now the kiss was fully initiated but her touch on such soft skin doesn't. Delicate fingers spread out like a fan across Alex's high cheekbones and help the strawberry blonde guide the other woman's face that much closer to her own. She needed the fellow attorney closer, she needed to be able to taste and feel everything there was to possible feel.

With their lips parting and rejoining again multiple times but still at a very slow and deliberate pace, Alex feels her stomach flip over like it was somersaulting and her breathing again becomes hitched. Hearing and feeling the gasp come from the more experienced ADA's lungs is like a drug for Casey and causes her chest to expand and push out towards Alex more.

Alex's right hand, now resting on Casey's hip grips into the material of the other woman's skirt and with a hard tug attempts to draw this other woman in closer. The motion slides Casey's butt towards the slightly taller woman until their legs meet on the bathroom floor as they remain sat face to face.

Parting her lips wider, Alex breathes out slowly into Casey's mouth and can all but feel the fact the younger woman's tongue twitches from the sensation. Another pulse runs between the two lawyers and Casey's lips shift to capture both of Alex's in one swoop this time as her hand slides up and down the perfect cheekbone of the more experienced ADA.

With another tug at Casey's skirt and hip, nails attempting to dig into skin for more leverage, Alex rises slightly from her seated position and uses her height to her advantage. By now her left hand has risen from its steadying placement on the floor and snakes up Casey's side until it works its way underneath the younger woman's blazer and applies enough pressure to once more pull Casey closer.

Opening her mouth once again the model worthy blonde is about to deepen this kiss further when to her shock Casey's hand travels down her face and takes more control of her cheek with strong fingers just starting to dig in for more grip. Responding to this Alex's lips part wider and it is only then that Casey shifts her head to one side and fully uses her tongue to slide into the very inviting mouth of one Alexandra Cabot and takes this kiss to the point of no return.

* * *

 ** _Well, that escalated didn't it?_**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you are so kind to leave me a review and let me know your thoughts, feelings, ideas or anything else at all then thank you truly for taking the time and effort to do so. You are truly wonderful people!_**

 ** _I won't bore any of you with a long message here I'll just say_** _ **until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	6. Awakening A Voice

_**I'm really not sure if I should continue this story or not to be honest. I had this mostly written though so I thought I should at least post it for those who do want to read it, so you can.**_

 _ **Thank you to the two people who took the time to leave a review, they truly mean so much and it is for you and others who have shown interest in this fic that I got this chapter up for.**_

 _ **I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

" **Awakening A Voice"**

As the unplanned kiss between the two ADA's continues there is a pulsing of heartbeats, in taking of sharp breaths and interaction of smooth skin as everything inside the hospital bathroom fades into another universe for both Alex and Casey.

In this moment in time all that either woman was aware of was the other woman, her scent, the heat rising from her body and most of all the feeling of her lips pushing, tugging and merging into their own. It is now a full on duel of the tongues as each woman's breathing becomes more strained, their respective heartbeats rise and the simmering heat of their two bodies increases with each slight movement they make.

Casey's free hand moves to cup around the free side of Alex's face while the slightly taller woman attempts to shift on to her knees. Pushing the strawberry blonde a little back and off balance, Alex takes the moment to capture Casey's extended tongue between both of her lips and sucks in one, slow motion.

Taking this as a silent challenge, Casey pulls her head back enough to separate lips and just stares deeply into the now darkened eyes belonging to her more experienced colleague. Alex's lips had a glimmer to them from the hot and heavy kiss the two had just shared and noticing it causes the husky voice of the younger woman to let out a guttural groan.

The signs of their intense kiss was showing in their slightly flushed skin, the way their eyes had changed colour and the heaving of their respective chests. A strong cloud of desire and anticipation had descended over both Alex and Casey as they find themselves in a slight stand-off, each wondering who would dare to make the next move.

Still holding Alex's face in between both of her hands, Casey wets her own lower lip with her tongue and watches as the blonde attorney squirms at the small movement. Like a flick of a light switch sapphire eyes, which had already darkened a few shades seemingly grow wider than ever before and the more experienced ADA lunges forward.

Eager lips push feverishly into Casey's as both of the blonde woman's hands abandon their previous positions and now become entangled within long locks of strawberry blonde hair. It causes a slight hiss for the younger of the two women as apparently Alex's delicate fingers possess a mean grip but it was far from un-enjoyable.

This time tongues are thrown into the equation almost instantaneously and both lawyers rise up from their seated positions in order to get to their knees first and in turn gain more control of the situation. It is no more than a scramble of limbs which comes to a screeching halt as the bathroom door begins to rattle from someone seeking entrance.

Like the flicking of a light switch both Alex and Casey stiffen, their now swollen lips pull apart and the unsteady balance they had causes them both to reach for the floor for support. A complete silence blankets the bathroom and the only noises echoing around are the strained and breathless gasps each attorney was emitting.

Turning to face the thankfully locked main door of the bathroom, as though staring at it would in some way cause the person on the other side to just leave, both Alex and Casey remain frozen. The haze which had blinded both women from their surroundings and current situation had seemingly disappeared as if someone had clicked their fingers.

"Fuck." Casey mutters in her still aroused voice as the fact her lips were now smeared with her colleagues taste begins to seep into her consciousness. Part of the less experienced ADA wished that wasn't still a moisture producing fact but who the hell was she kidding? Of course it was.

Tearing her eyes from the bathroom door as the strawberry blonde cusses in a way which under a more private circumstance would elicit a groan from Alex, the slightly taller woman just gulps. Her lips were still tingling from the lip lock she had shared with Casey but realisation was unfortunately looming and had to be dealt with, fast.

Reaching for her discarded glasses and haphazardly repositioning them on her nose, Alex forces her trembling legs to do their job and push the long time prosecutor back to her feet. Quickly turning her gaze away from Casey, unsure what she will find if she continues it, Alex frantically wipes at her mouth and pats down her untamed blonde locks in an attempt to not give away to anyone else what had just transpired on the bathroom floor between two ADA's.

Hazel eyes watch Alex with an almost amused grin before Casey's aroused brain manages to focus again and the younger of the two women jumps back to a standing position herself. Wiping the corners of her mouth with her thumb Casey shakes her hair out and smoothly tugs down both her skirt and blazer, regaining her composure seemingly and shocking much easier than Alex.

Sensing that the taller of the two startled kissers was still struggling, Casey strides over to the bathroom door and turns the lock. She doesn't wait for the person on the other side to question her in any way and just confidently strides out of the bathroom as though she was leaving a trail of roses in her path.

'What the actual fuck Casey?!' Alex mentally gasps, her jaw dropping at Casey's very unexpected handling of this situation. She isn't able to think over the younger woman's actions too long though as she is now having to face the confused woman entering the bathroom completely alone.

Never in her life before had Alexandra Cabot found herself in such a predicament, hell she was renowned for keeping her private life, just that and now she was blushing like a caught teenager who had been watching porn.

"Excuse me." Alex coughs out as she keeps her head well and truly bowed, just like a guilty person would and makes a quick exit of the bathroom praying to god the woman didn't see enough of her to ever recognise her in the future.

With her body fighting sleep deprivation, emotional turmoil and now deep arousal, the long time ADA was about ready to collapse. Of course there wasn't any time for something as dramatic as that though because just as Alex's long legs start to walk her back towards the treatment area a hand reaches out to grab the stunning blonde's attention.

"Alex, did you not hear me calling your name?" Olivia asks with concern for her clearly exhausted and drained friend who she was keeping in place with a gentle touch of her arm.

Hearing the familiar voice of someone she considered to be one of her true friends, Alex turns and notices that Olivia wasn't alone. Beside her was Amanda Rollins, one of the lieutenant's detectives who had been working with SVU for coming up to seven years now.

"No I'm sorry Liv, my mind was somewhere else entirely." Alex answers honestly as she gives a small smile and nod of her head towards Amanda not wanting the fellow blonde to think she was being ignored.

Crossing her arms just under her chest and hunching up her shoulders slightly, Alex turns her attention back to Olivia and is inwardly thankful for the welcome distraction.

"Hey, you've been through a lot Alex, you don't have to be sorry. Maybe you should think about going home and getting some rest though, you look…" Olivia tentatively begins to suggest that Alex Cabot head home, knowing all too well it would not be something that goes down well.

"I look like crap Liv, let's not sugar coat it but I'm not going anywhere. Savannah still needs me and after speaking with doctor Jennings you'll understand why." Alex interrupts pointedly, she was far too tired for any form of subtly right now.

Both Olivia and Amanda bow their heads and inwardly groan at the not so cryptic message the ADA had just conveyed to them. Even in a job where you deal with these cases day in and day out, somehow it never got any easier to hear or be confirmed, even if you had suspected it from minute one.

Alex nods sadly as the realisation hits both cops in front of her and just shrugs her already tense shoulders. What could she say? Nothing, it was best to just say nothing at all because no amount of words were going to change the gut wrenching facts that an eleven year old has been sexually abused.

Trying to move her thoughts away from such evil, the long time attorney turns towards the deflated officers, both of which she considered to be friends and remembers just why they were there. Savannah had to be interviewed and although that alone caused Alex's skin to crawl, it had to be done so they may as well get it over with. Moving towards the treatment room doors she had previously burst through, the elegant blonde motions for both Olivia and Amanda to follow her in.

Olivia and her detective both hesitate though and cause the drained lawyer to halt her movement and take a few paces back towards them. Blue eyes snap towards Olivia almost instantly sensing that there had been some form of a development that needed to be shared.

"Do you have information on the Captain?" Alex blurts out, her need to know of his location stemming from her burning desire to perform a castration on him and not any concern for his health or well being,

Being taller than both the lieutenant and detective has the power house prosecutor leaning over just slightly, both arms still firmly locked across her body. The impatience was obvious in her tone but more so her sapphire eyes that by now seemed to be flickering with emotion.

Sighing heavily at Alex's question, Olivia shifts her weight more on to one foot and debates how best to actually answer that question.

"We found a burnt out van not far from Captain Bruno's brownstone and there is some CCTV of the van's path previous to that which indicates it is the vehicle, whoever broke into the brownstone and attacked the Captain, initially used to transport Victor in. We believe they likely switched vehicles but considering where they abandoned it there isn't much chance of any more footage to show what car they got into next." Olivia reveals knowing all she was doing at this point was rubbing salt in the wounds but she knew the ADA well enough to know Alex would appreciate and expect nothing less than complete honesty from her friend.

Alex slowly nods her head in understanding but inwardly feels her stomach drop knowing the chances of any real answers to what happened or where Victor was were becoming astronomical with the more time that passed.

'He cannot just disappear and not face the music over what he has put his daughter through, he just can't.' Alex's inner voice comments, the fear of Savannah's never receiving justice starting to strangle the well known ADA.

"Fin and Carisi talked to the entire block and no one even knew that the Captain had a daughter apart from one woman who has been living there for twenty five years. Even then she just said she thought the girl must have gone to live with her mother when she and Victor divorced. That was nearly six years ago." Amanda interjects, it wasn't much but at least it was some more information that maybe, just maybe would end up being of some help.

This news hits Alex even harder and the tall blonde lets out a heavy sigh as her arms fly out from their crossed position and she shakes her head. How was what she was hearing, what she had seen with her own two eyes even possible?

"So it's looking as though Victor has kept Savannah a prisoner in her own home, beaten her regularly and done only god knows what else to her? He is a god damn member of the NYPD, how does this happen and no one have any idea about it?" Alex rants from building frustration, the images of Savannah's poor body and most of all the look in her chocolate brown eyes currently haunting the experienced lawyer like a curse.

Olivia closes her eyes momentarily knowing nothing she said would be of any conciliation and so decides it is best to just remain quiet. Amanda thinks very much the same thing but does keep her eyes open and just looks sympathetically towards the elegant blonde who normally was nothing if not in control. Seeing Alex like this was a shock to the system to say the least but considering everything that was happening involving this case it wasn't hard to understand as to why.

'So Savannah's mother divorced Victor and then what just upped and left this poor child to fend for herself with a monster?' Inwardly Alex's inner voice questions with growing rage which the experienced prosecutor knew she needed to quickly swallow.

"What about Savannah's mother, is there any news on her or her whereabouts? Surely she would want to know what's happened and be here for her daughter?" Alex asks with a growing unnerving sensation that applying the usual parental instincts to anything in this case was only going to be foolish.

Rubbing her hand along her forehead, Olivia looks into her friend's blue eyes with a silent message which told Alex everything she needed to know before the brunette could speak a single word.

"Savannah's mother, Regina, she gave up her parental rights to Savannah at the same time she got her divorce from Victor. Since then there has been no sign of her, not her social security, bank accounts, nothing at all. I have Carisi looking into it but for the most part she's gone off the grid." Olivia reveals with the defeat she could see swimming in Alex's crystal blue orbs. Apparently this poor little girl just couldn't catch a god damn break.

Alex's head was shaking but not from any form of disagreeing with the lieutenants words but from disbelief any one child could have the odds stacked so high against her. If it wasn't for the fact she was an 'Ice Queen' and didn't dare cry in front of anyone else, excluding her instances with Casey of course, Alex would bawl from the injustice of it all.

"There is no other family either that we can find. Victor's parents are both deceased and he was an only child. Regina's mother died when she was only a teenager and her father is in prison for man slaughter and is suspected of being tied to the mob." Amanda reveals sensing what Alex's next question would be and not wanting to prolong the inevitable thought it best to just get it out in one swoop.

Another gut punch hits the stoic attorney and drains her some more of the fumes of energy she was currently running on. Blue eyes didn't dare look up and connect with those of either the lieutenant or her detective because it was obvious all three women were struggling to comprehend any of this.

Not knowing what else to do or say in this moment in time, Alex just begins to nod her head. It was slow and almost non-existent but it was a silent message that there was nothing else left to say and they should just move on.

"Savannah was taken away for a few more tests but she should be back by now. I will warn you both she is exhausted and I really don't know how much you'll be able to get from her. She's withdrawn and after what I saw it's hardly a mystery as to why." Alex reveals knowing the purpose for the arrival of the two specialist officers and knowing no amount of stalling would prevent the inevitable from happening.

Both Olivia and Amanda know what the prosecutor is doing and eye one another for a moment in a silent conversation which spoke of their concern for their friend.

Alex was already walking towards the treatment area again and this time wasn't going to be stopped, if the lieutenant and detective chose not to follow her than fine but she was going to go back to Savannah either way.

Olivia nods her head towards Amanda for them to follow after Alex but sighs knowing this interview with Savannah was going to be one of the hardest of her career. None of them were easy but considering the attachment the long time ADA had formed with the young girl it was going to be just that much more difficult.

'I hope this isn't going to traumatise her any further. I really don't know how much more that poor girl can take.' The inner voice belonging to the Alex chimes in as the trio begin to walk down the treatment room area to where Savannah had previously been seen to.

Amanda takes a few quicker steps forward to catch up a little more with the far taller blonde and reaches her hand out to prevent the prosecutor going any further. Although the two hadn't known one another for as long as Alex and Olivia, they had still been around each other enough to be considered close friends.

"We won't push her Alex, we know she's been through hell." Amanda assures with her southern charm which came from her Georgia upbringing and thankfully so far being in New York so long had yet to dampen.

Looking into the sincere blue eyes of the shorter blonde detective, Alex finds some of her harshness melt away. Her anger and attitude was not meant for these two kind, respected and hard working women only trying to do their job. Alex's rage was solely focused on Savannah's so called father and the system which had let her down repeatedly.

"I know that Amanda and I'm sorry if I seem hostile or flippant, I haven't slept and let's just say witnessing what I did both in that girl's bedroom and in this treatment room has… affected me deeply." Alex replies, surprised by the amount of honesty she was revealing but Amanda and Olivia were her friends and beyond that, if anyone was going to understand what she was talking about it would be a detective and lieutenant.

'We know that feeling all too well.' Olivia mentally comments as her kind and warm eyes look to the exhausted attorney and a smile of sympathy is passed between them. Reaching out with a soft hand the brunette rubs Alex's arm in an attempt to offer some form of support to the always independent lawyer.

Alex nods her thanks for the small gesture and quickly regains herself by taking in a deep breath. Turning her head to the cubical Savannah had by now been brought back to, the tall blonde feels her heart tighten. Everything this poor child had suffered was swarming inside the long time ADA's mind along with the seemingly never ending heartbreaking information that kept coming to light.

'She needs you Alex, she needs you to be strong.' Alex encourages and reminds herself as the elegant attorney motions for both Olivia and Amanda to follow her over to Savannah.

Meanwhile Casey Novak had found herself diving into a utility closet just to catch her breath and escape the reality of what had just transpired in that bathroom. Her stomach was a bubbling cauldron of hormones and adult lust which was never a good concoction.

'You do know you are going to have to face the fact that you just made out with Alex on that bathroom floor don't you?' Casey's inner voice questions the strawberry blonde as she for a second allows her mind to remember the way Alex's lips had felt against her own.

The younger woman's lips were still tingling from the slight swelling such intense kissing had caused. The intense rush of adrenaline coursing through her body was almost like electricity and although she had been able to make her escape out of the bathroom with surprising grace, now was a different story entirely.

Suddenly heavy shoulders push back against the shut door of the utility closet and hazel eyes screw tightly shut. Casey's head hangs back and a large, powerful breath escapes her lungs as her body attempts to cope with these pulsing sensations and conflicting emotions and thoughts.

'I just made out with Alexandra freaking Cabot. I feel like I should be high fiving my college roommate and downing a tequila shot. I just committed career suicide and yet all I can think about is how she tastes. Well, mom always has said I'm the only person capable of getting myself into these situations.' Casey's inner voice rambles from thought to thought as the attorney's head finally falls back to its normal placement and eyes re open.

The utility room was dark, something that in all actuality Casey finds herself thankful for. At least hidden in the shadows the strawberry blonde knew no one could see her having such a mental breakdown over something as simple as a quick make out session.

The faint scent of Alex's perfume was suddenly caught by Casey's nose, now in the tight space it was easy to pick up where it had rubbed off on her clothing from the rather close embrace the two had been entwined in. It was subtle, not anything over powering and yet feminine and as quick as a flash has the younger ADA's mind flashing back to the heated and desire filled interaction with Alexandra Cabot.

'Oh crap, did I just take advantage of her being so emotional and upset? Did she only kiss me back as a way to forget about everything else? God knows I have used sex as a distraction in my life before.' The prosecutor panics inwardly, the very thought of having in some way wronged the more experienced lawyer causing great guilt in Casey's conscience.

Shaking her head in an attempt to silence the almost bickering thoughts inside her mind, Casey pushes herself off from the door and runs both of her hands up and down her face with a long exaggerated release of a breath.

'Why do I care if she was just using me as a distraction? Do I like Alex? I think she's hot but that's because I have eyes in my head that work. How and why is this happening now of all times? I know why I kissed her I know I wanted to and not just because she is gorgeous either. Oh this shit storm just keeps on growing doesn't it?' Casey informs herself with disbelief that this was how she had ended up after receiving that call to take this case on.

Very aware that having such a back and forth with her thoughts was probably not sane, Casey gives her head another hard shake and paces around in the very small closet. She was supposed to be an ADA, someone who worked for the justice system and yet here she was hiding out in a closet all because of a kiss.

Realising she was allowing her mind to get the better of her, the lawyer straightens her blazer and lets out another, long, calming breath to regain some control of herself.

'Right now you need to just put Alex and what happened in that bathroom to the back of your mind. You still have to talk to Olivia about what you found in that folder. This case and Savannah are what are most important, everything else you can cry into a bottle of Jack Daniels about tonight.' The strawberry blonde instructs herself with a new found authority and conviction.

Cautiously the newly composed prosecutor makes her exit from the closet, thankfully doing so without being spotted and goes over to the nurses' station to gather both her coat and briefcase, the nurse had kindly offered to look after for her. It didn't take much guessing for Casey to realise Alex must have returned to Savannah, which considering everything probably wasn't the worst thing to happen.

Sliding hr phone from her briefcase front pocket, Casey flicks across her screen to find Olivia's number and call the long time lieutenant. The images of what she found in that older were now the younger woman's sole focus and just having such information felt like a hole was being burned deep into her soul. Just as she is about to hit the call button though another name flashes on the screen, it was Elizabeth 'Liz' Donnelly, both Alex and Casey's boss. The fact her name on Casey's phone was accompanied by a devil emoji may seem childish to some but only to those who had never met Liz in person.

"Hey Liz." Casey answers, trying to sound as cool and collected as she possibly could but Liz wasn't going to give the woman much of a chance to sound like anything at all.

"Novak, just what is going on with the Bruno case? Why haven't you been in touch, I know you went to the hospital? Is there any news on his whereabouts and what is this I am hearing about a daughter?" Liz interrupts Casey's greetings and bulldozes straight into the many questions she has for the strawberry blonde ADA.

Rubbing at her suddenly tense and ready to break into a migraine forehead, Casey has to physically turn away from the phone in order to sigh before bracing herself for what was without a doubt going to be a long and painful conversation.

For Savannah the fact she had now been returned to the treatment area was a small comfort, at least here Alex would be waiting for her. It wasn't that the doctors and nurses weren't all nice to her but they weren't Alex and for the eleven year old that meant her head was kept down and interaction kept to the bare minimum.

Terror strikes the young brunette's heart though as through the curtain of her hair, brown eyes don't see any sign of the model worthy blonde waiting for her. Savannah was used to being let down, used to being left alone but something about this revelation was stinging in a way the small eleven year old hadn't been expecting.

'I knew she would leave, everyone leaves. Did I do something wrong? Did they find Daddy, does he know I spoke to someone?' Savannah internally thinks over the only possibilities her mind could fathom, each one increasing the terror which was running her blood cold.

"Hey Savannah, welcome back. Hey, hey sweetheart are you okay, are you in pain?" A kind and quickly becoming familiar voice asks much to Savannah's shock and utter relief. Lifting her gaze from her lap and blinking furiously to stop the now apparently unnecessary tears from falling the little brunette sees Alex striding towards her.

Savannah's chest lets out a stifled sob and faintly her head is seen to be shaking from side to side to answer the question if she was in pain. Of course it was a lie, she was in agony but it was no amount of paint the young brunette wasn't used to so it was certainly not something worthy of any note.

Alex feels her heart drop into her shoes when her blue eyes witness Savannah's already tense body become like steel and her head bow. It wasn't hard for the long time ADA to realise what caused such a reaction and guilt washes over Alex like a tidal wave.

'She thought I had left her. Well done Alex.' The unforgiving inner voice of one Alexandra Cabot points out the obvious as the tall blonde quickens her pace and rejoins Savannah's bedside.

Bending down Alex grips one hand on to the side rail of the hospital bed and with her free one reaches out and just faintly ghosts Savannah's small cheek. Although the young brunette jolts from the movement she doesn't resist or seem frightened by it which encourages the attorney to fully make contact and just cups the eleven year olds face, very gently.

"Did the test go okay? I'm so sorry I couldn't come with you darling but I am here now and I won't be going anywhere." Alex promises as her sapphire eyes search through the long, dark locks in front of Savannah's pretty little face to try and find her chocolate brown orbs.

Both Olivia and Amanda know better than to intrude on this moment and so take a few steps back, the last thing they wanted to do was overwhelm the poor girl anymore than she already was. Seeing the experienced prosecutor show such a drastically different side to herself does however earn a raised eyebrow from Amanda, who although friends with Alex had never witnessed quite as much of a soft demeanour from the fellow blonde before.

'Oh she has this side, she just shows it very rarely.' Olivia silently answers the obvious but non verbal question before glancing back over to Alex and smiling softly. Something about the effect Savannah had on her friend was heart warming to see and refreshing at the same time. Having been friends for a s long as Olivia and Alex had meant the blonde lawyer had shown her warm and kind heart more often but to do so in such a public way was a rarity to say the least.

"Here, why don't you lie back in to the pillows and try and get comfortable alright?" Alex coaches Savannah sweetly as her hands move to pump up the hospital pillows once more behind the pre teen's head and shoulders.

Savannah gives a faint nod and very cautiously sits forward enough so Alex can sort out her pillows for her. As she does so a small glimpse of her face can be seen and it is only then both Olivia and Amanda see the pain etched across her face but also her utter refusal to let it show in any other manner.

The tall ADA ghosts her hands at Savannah's shoulders as the eleven year old leans back into the now fully fluffed pillows. A small sigh of relief escapes her lungs and Alex smiles knowing at least in some small way this poor girl had some comfort.

"Better?" Alex asks sweetly as she again manages to get an eye connection with Savannah through her long, brown locks which she clearly used as a shield.

Savannah nods faintly, the energy she was running on barely enough to really keep her eyelids from closing at this point but she was stubborn. Lifting her hand containing the fluid IV, the little brunette places it next to Alex's on the side rail of the bed and almost lets a smile grace her lips when the beautiful blonde takes the hint and once more intertwines their fingers.

'I'm safe now, I know as long as Alex is holding my hand all I have to do is squeeze and everything will stop.' Savannah assures herself mentally as her drained body sinks into the large bed once again.

Peering over her shoulder towards both Olivia and Amanda, Alex feels her chest constrict from apprehension. Was this such a good idea? Letting out a small breathe knowing it would happen one way or another the long time prosecutor turns back to Savannah and freezes recognising the three shades lighter the poor child had suddenly turned.

'She must have seen Olivia and Amanda. You can do this Alex, just let her know that they're the good guys and you are still here.' Alex informs herself as seeing such terror on this eleven year olds features hits her like a truck.

"Savannah, these two lovely ladies here are my friends. They are also police officers, the lady with hair like yours is Olivia and she is a lieutenant and the pretty blonde with her is Amanda a detective. Now, they are here just to have a little talk with you but they are my friends and I promise you they are on your side so you have nothing to worry about.," Alex introduces the two officers who upon hearing their names mention start to make their way over towards the hospital bed.

Approaching cautiously Olivia gives a small wave of her right hand towards a statuesque Savannah whose eyes were hidden behind her hair but very obviously not moving from the two new approaching strangers.

"Hi Savannah. I know you must be really tired right now so I promise you me and Amanda won't keep you long okay? We just need to ask a few questions about last night and your daddy, do you think that will be okay sweetheart?" Olivia asks wanting to give the terrified pre teen some control over her current situation and hopefully, if she could relax her.

Savannah's head bows at the mention of the events of the night before and her daddy, a hard gulp can be heard too but her hand still encased with Alex's remains, relatively relaxed. Taking this as a sign it was okay to continue, the blonde attorney nods towards both Olivia and Amanda and just runs her free hand delicately up and down Savannah's forearm, avoiding her heavy bandaging of course.

Amanda is the first to reach the bedside and stays at the very end, it was easy to understand how claustrophobic this situation must be for Savannah so keeping some distance seemed like the smartest idea. With her notepad in her hand, the smaller blonde offers the young, skinny child a smile as for a moment her inner thoughts turn to how any parent could allow their child to end up in this condition.

Amanda had her own daughter at home, Jesse. Although the young girl had not been planned the moment she came in to the world the Georgia native realised how her daughter being born was easily the biggest accomplishment and greatest thing to ever happen to her.

Passing Alex, Olivia gives a discreet squeeze of the taller woman's shoulder, a silent reassuring gesture that the lawyer was doing an amazing job. It causes Alex to turn to her brunette friend and with emotion filled blue eyes nods her thanks for the very needed encouragement.

"Okay Savannah so how about we start with the simple and easy stuff? Can you tell us your full name please and how old you are?" Olivia asks, deliberately asking for information that hopefully would be easy for the girl to answer without causing any real emotional response. It was a way to try and settle Savannah down and hopefully get her to at least feeling comfortable to speak with them.

Savannah was shaking, if you didn't know better you would thinks he was trapped within a block of ice but still her hand doesn't squeeze Alex's so for now at least she was okay to carry on. With a cough leaving her lungs from her nerves Savannah wets her lips and attempts to find her voice.

The warm and comforting hand belonging to Alex still locked together with her own was like an anchor for the eleven year old whose breathing was starting to become more erratic. Knowing three sets of eyes were now focused and waiting for her response was intense for a girl who was used to nothing but obedience.

The three adults now around the hospital bed give concerned glances to one another as a full minute passes without a sound leaving Savannah's young lips. It was almost though she had shut down and was struggling to fight through and be heard, every little emotion imaginable flashing across her demeanour in some way or form.

As the pressure mounts on Savannah's shoulders her breathing becomes more rapid and strained but as her large brown eyes look to her own small hand still being so delicately protected by Alex's much larger one the brunette begins to just ever so faintly nod her head. She could do this.

"Savannah… Evelyn… Bruno." Savannah whispers each word out in between deep intakes of much needed oxygen.

For a moment all three adults are left speechless, just hearing the delicate and clearly frightened voice of this brunette hits all of them deeply. It was a struggle to hear her but when they did they couldn't help but feel a warm sensation spread in their heart. It was something so small and yet clearly for Savannah a huge hurdle that she had just conquered. Speaking to only Alex was one thing but allowing her voice to be fully heard by a group of strangers was something else entirely and although a struggle Savannah had accomplished it.

A smile of pride rises up on Alex's pink lips as she watches the traumatized child battle her instincts to hide and finally have the courage to let herself be heard. Nodding with encouragement and praise the model worthy blonde rubs her free hand up and down Savannah's trembling forearm and gets the young girl to look at her.

"Well done honey. You're doing fantastic okay?" Alex praises sincerely, her words going along with the strong gaze her crystal blue eyes were making with Savannah's chocolate brown ones and the soft stroking of the young girl's arm.

Letting out a shaky breath, Savannah's head nods faintly once more and she turns her own gaze back to both the waiting lieutenant and detective at her bedside. They didn't seem to be angry with her, they were just waiting with kind smiles on their faces and for the brunette that was what she needed to see right now.

'Alex said I'm doing fantastic, she smiled at me. No one is mad, I must be doing good otherwise they'd be shouting. Yeah and I'm only telling them my name and my age, I can't get in trouble for that can I?' Savannah mentally begins to question the limits of the rules she had spent her entire life living within the boundaries of and obeying.

"I'm eleven and I'll be twelve on the seventh of March." Savannah's quiet and raspy voice reveals, each word coming out just slightly louder than the last.

Again this earns nod of encouragements and beaming smiles from all three of the adults around her. Savannah was still trembling but her breathing at least was starting to recover to a more sustainable pace.

"Okay. So Savannah, I know this may be difficult but could you tell us what happened last night before Ms Cabot, Alex here, found you? Don't worry, you just take your time and tell us whatever you can remember." Olivia asks cautiously not wanting to throw this struggling and drained child into the deep end without any kind of life support.

As expected the mention of the previous evenings events send a cold child through the eleven year olds body. While holding her small hand Alex could have sworn she actually feels the young girl's temperature drop and has to bite her inner cheek to stop from ending this conversation there and then.

Savannah's bruised, battered and now thankfully bandaged body tenses up like frozen ice and her breathing doesn't quicken or slow it just all together stops. Terror fills every inch of this eleven year olds body and if her eyes could be seen properly by the three adults they would see nothing more than fear.

Alex turns her attention to her police friends, her sapphire eyes silently asking for some kind of reprieve for Savannah. Although she knew this had to be done and Olivia and Amanda were only doing their jobs, every other instinct inside the long time ADA's body was screaming for this to just stop. Protecting Savannah was all Alex was interested in and seeing, feeling and hearing how this child was shutting down in front of them was almost too much to take.

Olivia's dark coco eyes connect with Alex's with a look which told the lawyer she wished there was another way to do this but what choice did they have? As an investigation they were running on next to nothing and Savannah was their only chance of getting anything else.

"Okay, Savannah look don't worry honey it's okay. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to or that upsets you. We just want to know what happened so we can figure out where your daddy is and bring him back safe." Amanda explains, attempting desperately to at least get some kind of information from this poor girl so they had some sort of background or information to go on.

Savannah finally breaks and sucks in a deep breath, her head bows down lower but although shaking her hand refrains from giving any kind of a squeeze to Alex's. She was terrified ad struggling but it was obvious this brave child was doing everything she could to fight her fears and be of some kind of help.

Alex can feel her own heart rate sky rocket with every slight movement Savannah makes. To say she was concerned for the brunette was an understatement but she was clawing at her professionalism and desperately trying to not jump in and end this for Savannah in one swoop.

"Savannah, darling I'm here and you know all you have to do is squeeze my hand and this will all stop yeah?" Alex whispers into the shell of Savannah's ear, part of her not sure if it was meant to be encouraging for the brunette to tell them what happened or a desperate plea for the girl to squeeze her hand and end it.

As Alex's calming voice enters her consciousness, the small girl slowly gulps down a hard lump which had formed from fear and sniffles back the tears which were threatening to break free from her chocolate eyes.

"I'm… I'm not supposed to talk about what happens at home, not to anyone. My daddy will be so mad at me for talking but… but I know you need to find him and make sure he is safe." Savannah reveals, her young mind trying to rationalise whether speaking out was the right thing to do or not.

Although not shocking to hear of Victor's rule that Savannah was banned from discussing the goings in behind closed doors it does just bring home once again the twisted world they had stumbled into.

'Of course the bastard has reinforced she speaks to no one. He wouldn't want the truth getting out now would he? Maybe we shouldn't even be looking for him, maybe whatever has happened to him is earned and it's going to be the best thing to ever happen to his daughter.' Amanda mentally surmises unable to contain her growing hatred for this supposed father.

Olivia sighs as Savannah's words, the sinking sensation somehow growing deeper the further into this case she got. Knowing that the young girl was teetering about what was the right thing to do the long time cop swallows her maternal instincts and thinks like she is paid to.

"I know you're scared to tell us Savannah because you don't want your daddy to be mad at you but honestly, right now we really need to know what happened so we can help him. You're be helping him by talking to us, he won't be mad about that." Olivia assures, her own words causing the need to vomit to rise within her chest but she reluctantly pushes that to one side and just looks at Savannah.

The young girl was hanging on by a thread, her body was in a state no human should ever have to suffer, she was exhausted and drained and emotionally she was fighting learned behaviours, rules and compliance that had most likely kept her alive and her naturally good heart and want to do the right thing. It was soul destroying to see and made the long time lieutenant regret her words as soon as they leave her lips.

Alex's head snaps towards her long time friend, a look of anger splashing across her features in response to Olivia's attempt to get Savannah to speak. Although she knew Olivia had only done her job, it was growing harder for the ADA to keep her thoughts unbiased and in perspective.

'She's been programmed never to speak about what goes on in her own home and now she is contemplating telling us only because she feels obligated to in order to save her father. God this world is a fucked up placed sometimes.' Alex's inner voice points out bitterly as her overtired mind struggles to keep things in perspective.

"It's okay Savannah, just tell us what you can okay?" Alex says softly, the thought of adding any pressure onto the shoulders of this little brunette making her want to retch for the second time that day.

With her hand still gripped with Savannah's smaller counterpart, the blonde attorney rubs the girl's forearm up and down with her free hand and watches her cautiously. Any little movement Savannah was making Alex was attempting to read as some kind of sign as to what the brunette was thinking and feeling.

"It was bedtime, daddy was changing in his room." Savannah suddenly speaks, her voice slicing through the already silent room like a knife. It was mono tone, all emotion seemingly having been deliberately locked away by the eleven year old girl in order just to be able to get the words to leave her lungs.

Chocolate brown eyes stare out, from behind long, dark locks, at nothing but thin air straight ahead. It was almost as though she had gone into a trance, perhaps inwardly reliving the previous nights events, a thought which made Alex's heart ache from guilt.

'Am I ready to hear this? More importantly is she ready to speak it?' Alex's inner voice ponders, her feeling of responsibility for this child overwhelming but rock solid at the same time.

Not wanting to risk interrupting Savannah, all three women fall silent and share a unison look that they were just going to let the little brunette get out whatever it was she was about to share.

"I was… I was in my bedroom and I heard a bang. Then there were these voices all shouting and I heard people running up the stairs. They sounded angry and they were really, really loud." Savannah continues, by now her voice was starting to crack and the emotion she was desperately attempting to keep at bay was seeping through.

Alex closes her crystal blue eyes for a moment, her hand was still very much holding Savannah's and inwardly she was finding herself screaming for the brunette to just squeeze it. Knowing she needed to pull herself together the tall prosecutor lets her eyes open and rubs up and down Savannah's forearm once more.

"Did you recognise any of the voices Savannah, were they people you or your daddy knew?" Amanda tentatively asks, her own blue eyes watching the brunette closely as she continues to just look straight ahead of herself.

Savannah shakes her head and takes in a shaky breath, her body was trembling but somehow she was forcing herself to continue. That inner strength which had caught Alex's attention and gotten Savannah through her examination was still going strong and at this point probably the only thing keeping the young brunette going.

"Did anyone come in to your room, did they hurt you at all?" Olivia interjects, it was a standard question but deep down the lieutenant was rather sure she already knew the answer.

"I had my… blindfold on so I couldn't see anything. I … I didn't hear any footsteps though but I did hear my daddy yell in pain and then… then there were lots of bangs and… more shouting. It was men, the voices were all deep but I couldn't make out what they were saying, I was… I was too scared." Savannah explains, her words coming out faster now but only due to the fact the eleven year old was on the verge of breaking in to a flood of tears.

Amanda and Olivia share a look and both inwardly sigh, the mention of her blindfold referring to the suffering this poor child had been through but they dare not ask about or get in to yet. Savannah was taking a huge risk by speaking to them and although it was terrifying her, this brave little brunette was doing it anyway. Neither cop was about to interrupt or do anything to bring the eleven year old to silence once more.

"…I heard a crack, a loud cracking sound and then everything went quiet and… and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I just… I just laid there and listened and then suddenly there was rummaging and people whispering to each other and… and then I heard footsteps going back downstairs and a… a car door slam before… before it drove off and then…. Nothing." Savannah reveals, her words growing harder and harder to speak as she gasps in between almost each of them.

The young child's body was visibly shaking now, her shoulders hunched up at her ears and Alex watches closely as a few drops of tears slip down from behind Savannah's curtain of hair and hit the hospital blanket over her lap.

Realising that Savannah was now crying feels like a jagged shard of glass being slowly impaled into her heart as Alex helplessly stands at the bedside. Her hand still intertwined at the fingers with Savannah's was twitching, wanting so desperately to squeeze and bring an end to this but somehow refrains.

'She is crying and I can't make it better. I… Oh god, please let this be over soon.' Alex mentally prays, her burning instinct to protect this eleven year old causing the blue eyed ADA's resolve to disappear.

Olivia opens her mouth to speak, to ask another question but is silenced when Savannah instead speaks once more.

"I was stuck, I couldn't move, I couldn't see but… but I could hear and now everything was just…. Silent. I was alone and no one knew… knew I was there. I thought I was going to die, I… I …" Savannah's voice completely breaks now, the tears overwhelming her and causing heartbreaking sobs to reverberate from her chest as she cracks at the seams.

Savannah had finally found her voice but in doing so had reached her breaking point.

* * *

 _ **This chapter was actually longer than usual and if I do continue, depending on what you guys want or don't want me to do then I may make future chapters really long. It will mean more will happen in each chapter but much longer time between each chapter being posted so you know let me know what you think if you feel inclined.**_

 _ **If I do end it here thank you for those of you who gave this story a chance and and even bigger thank you to those of you kind enough to tell me what you thought. I appreciate you all dearly and everything you have been kind enough to tell me in feedback.**_

 _ **Thanks all,**_ _ **until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	7. Fitting Pieces

_**Wow, okay apparently I have greatly underestimated the interest in this story. It is both a shock to me and also a huge compliment to know you are all so invested in reading more of this.**_

 _ **I cannot say thank you enough for the support and encouragement I have received to continue as well as such lovely and kind words on my writing. Knowing what you are all thinking, feeling, wanting, expecting and everything in between is genuinely priceless information for me and I take each and every word you all are kind enough to write me on board as I go about creating each chapter. I want to make the best possible story I can for you to enjoy and having your feedback I truly believe is the biggest help in making that a reality.**_

 _ **This chapter has a real bonding moment between Savannah and Alex and as I was writing it just seemed to naturally occur as stupid as that may sound. Anyway I hope that you enjoy it and let me know what you think if you are so kind.**_

 _ **I think that is enough of me so I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

" **Fitting Pieces"**

Savannah's strained and tear filled sobs continue to echo throughout the treatment area and have all three adult women surrounding her bed wanting to break down and cry right along with her. No one had wanted to gain this response from the vulnerable child under any circumstances and are instantly wracked with guilt over it.

Alex rises a little straighter as she stands by Savannah's bed, an indicator to Olivia and Amanda that this conversation was well and truly finished. Piercing blue eyes stab into both officers through the lenses of her glasses as the blonde ADA reaches with her free hand to rub Savannah's back and hopefully bring her some form of comfort.

Amanda quickly spins around on the balls of her feet and rushes off down the treatment room in search of some water for Savannah in hopes it would help calm her back down. The truth also was in rushing down the room it meant the Georgia native was able to take a second to collect herself and sniffle back the threatening tears locked within her own blue orbs.

Olivia's heart is stung with guilt watching as this poor child has a breakdown right in front of her eyes. As a cop there was only so much that the brunette could ignore or put to one side and a crying, hurt child was not one of them. With a now thudding heart in her chest from concern and maternal instinct, the well seasoned lieutenant takes a step closer towards the young girl.

"Oh Savannah, I am so sorry sweetheart. It is okay you have done amazing, what you have told us is going to be so much help. It's okay…" Olivia desperately attempts to assure the now seemingly broken child in the hospital bed and without thinking reaches her hand out to rest on Savannah's leg to offer some comfort.

Instantly though Olivia regrets her choice when Savannah jumps five feet into the air and scrambles like a trapped animal back up the bed in utter terror. Kicking herself mentally for being so stupid the seasoned lieutenant holds her hands up to show Savannah she wouldn't be doing that again.

"NO PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, I'M SORRY!" Savannah's voice screams through the room, so much louder and with more force than anything she had previously said. It came from guttural fear and was this poor, innocent child's way of attempting to protect herself, an instinct that it was clear had been hard wired into all of her life.

Alex's heart jumps into her mouth as Savannah suddenly jolts as though she had been struck by lightning. Simultaneously the pre teens desperate scream of frantic apology strangles the long time prosecutors soul in one swoop. No one should ever make a noise of such panic and fear let alone an eleven year old child when all someone had done is gently pat her leg.

Biting back her own shock, Alex quickly jumps into action and reaches out with her free hand in an attempt to still the eleven year old back into the bed before she causes her poor body any more pain. It is only in this moment that the lawyer realises Savannah's little hand was now not only squeezing hers but cutting off all circulation from the death grip.

The brunette eleven year old was sat at the very top of the bed, her legs pulled against her chest which must be causing such pain considering the condition of her young body to begin with. Savannah's head was buried into her knees and one hand pressed against her ear as the other uses any strength the pre teen possess to let Alex know she was no longer okay and wanted this to stop.

Shushing softly at Savannah's ear, Alex leans over the bed so all Savannah would be able to see would be the kind blue eyes of the attorney and nothing else. Well if and when the trembling child was able to lift her gaze from its hidden position between her drawn up knees.

"Savannah, shh it's okay sweetheart. Olivia didn't mean to scare you, it's okay. It's me Alex, it's just me and you. Look at me Savannah, please darling can you look in my eyes?" Alex coos softly, her voice straining to keep from sounding as panicked as her mind and heart currently were.

'We have broken her, broken a child.' Alex mentally takes note of the situation with the same guilt she knew without looking or asking both Olivia and Amanda were currently being consumed by, how could they not be?

Savannah was rigid, every muscle in her young body contracting from terror which had overcome her completely. Her rather well hidden head was shaking back and forth in refusal and all that could be heard were the muffled pleas not to be hurt and unnecessary apologies leaving her strained, sharp breaths. If she wasn't careful she was going to end up hyperventilating and passing out.

Realising she was getting next to nowhere, Alex instinctively perches herself onto the hospital bed and very cautiously slides next to the eleven year old was struggling to catch a proper breath. Although still dressed in her pencil skirt and blouse, the last thing the ADA cared about was if too much of her leg was showing.

"Daddy no, I'm sorry PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" Savannah screams out as the bed shifts and Alex gulps regretting her choice to climb up closer to the young girl but had committed now and needed to follow through.

"Savannah, this isn't your daddy sweetheart. It's Alex, just me Savannah. Come on darling, lift your head for me and look into my eyes. You're just having a… a… nightmare that's all. Everything is okay and you are safe, I'm still here with you and you're holding my hand. Everything has stopped, just like I promised you it would. Come on honey, I need you to hear me and look into my eyes so you know I'm telling the truth. Please Savannah." Alex desperately pleads, her voice cracking but not fully breaking which in all honesty was nothing short of a miracle considering the situation.

Slowly something seems to sink in for Savannah and very cautiously, the little brunette brings her head back up just enough so her eyes can peer out over the tops of her knees. If she was pale before now she was almost see through, her long locks having been pulled back so her gaunt face was more exposed.

'It's a trick, daddy is mad at me and now he is going to punish me. It's always the same, it always hurts. I can't take it anymore, please no.' Savannah's inner voice chants from a lifetime of abuse showing it's repercussions.

Relief crashes in to Alex like a bullet as her glistening sapphire eyes are able to look back into the completely tear filled chocolate brown ones belonging to Savannah. It was clear the eleven year old was startled, confused and most of all scared but also apparent she wasn't fully with the attorney in the moment. She was lost, trapped in memories, flashbacks of her life where only the worst things had happened to her.

'Oh sweet girl, that's it. Those beautiful brown eyes are looking at me again so this will be okay.' Alex mentally informs herself, almost a way of encouraging the supposed 'Ice Queen' that what she was doing was indeed working.

"That's it, it's okay just breathe honey, just breathe." Alex coaches Savannah kindly, her entire mind and body running solely on instinct but it was seeming to do the trick as the sudden sharp breaths the brunette was sucking in from fear start to lessen and slow.

Alex? It's Alex, not daddy. Okay… okay.' Savannah's young mind repeats the words within her own mind as she attempts to calm herself back down and off of the ledge.

Feeling Savannah's trembling body slowly relax under her grip, Alex nods her head slowly and continues to mimic the calm breathing she wanted the brunette to copy. Softly the ADA guides Savannah back into the pillows with one hand and then delicately strokes some brown locks out of her face and gets a clearer look into the girl's big brown eyes.

"That's it, you coming back to me now yeah? Just slow breaths, in and out." Alex instructs softly as Savannah's wide, panic stricken eyes stare deeply into the blue oceans that were the attorney's eyes and seem to come back to reality.

Savannah's head nods cautiously but she clearly does start to calm back down. Her hand releases from Alex's, which at this point was turning purple, and the eleven year old freezes. Every inch of her was trembling but as long as her brown eyes remain locked with Alex's, Savannah was able to remain somewhat grounded.

"Good girl, that's it. You're okay honey, it's all okay." Alex assures, the relief echoing from her own voice as Savannah's terrified state lessens with every second that passes and she slowly just merges back in to the pillows behind her and lets out slow calming breaths.

Watching the scene unfold in front of her, all Olivia can do is fight back her own tears and hang her head in shame. Of course this wasn't the first instance where she'd been talking with a child and they had broken down but something about this one was hard for the lieutenant to swallow.

'Oh Savannah, I am so sorry I… thank god for Alex.' Olivia mentally comments, her coco eyes watching her friend with great admiration and a warmth sensing just how much this little girl was proving to mean to the independent Ms Cabot.

Alex was sat on the edge of the hospital bed, on her hip, one hand just stroking back now slightly damp brunette locks and the other reaching around Savannah's front and rubbing up and down her arm on the further side.

Wide chocolate brown eyes, still pouring warm tears down the young girl's face begin to search away from Alex as Savannah comes back into the moment and realises her surroundings. Normally tanned cheeks begin to flush with embarrassment and the eleven year old cringes at her own actions.

"I'm sorry." Savannah whispers, a mix of embarrassment and fear evident in her words but she is quickly corrected as Alex's sapphire eyes connect strongly with her brown counterparts once more.

Still sat beside her on the bed, the long time attorney ever so delicately reaches up and cups Savannah's now wet and tear stained cheek. It helps the young girl focus back on Alex's crystal blue eyes and seems to have a calming effect on her also.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry for Savannah. Nothing at all. You just take some breaths okay and here let's have a sip of water as well." Alex retorts before grabbing a small plastic cup from Amanda who had just returned to the bed, concern etched on her face like it was Olivia's.

Bringing the small cup to Savannah's lips, Alex lets out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been withholding when the young brunette gratefully starts to take some large gulps. The ice water doing its job in helping to calm Savannah back down as Alex keeps one of her hands just gently cupping the back of the child's head.

As the eleven year old stops her drinking and pulls back just slightly, her eyes catch a glimpse of both Amanda and Olivia and she gulps. Looking over her shoulder to her two friends, Alex nods knowingly and hands the cup of water back to Amanda with a smile of thanks.

"Savannah, listen okay me and Amanda are going to leave now so you can get some much needed and earned rest. I just want you to know that you did a fantastic job and you have helped us so much. I am so sorry I upset you sweetheart but you are in very safe hands here with Alex. It was very nice to meet you Savannah and hope I didn't scare you too much, again I'm really sorry." Olivia offers sincerely, the guilt swimming in her heart not about to go anywhere for a long time to come, if ever at all.

Savannah's eyes flicker across to the brunette lieutenant and her detective and although still clearly shaken the young girl nods her head in understanding and does her best to offer some form of a smile.

"It's okay." The young brunette whispers, her heart unable to allow these women to leave thinking they had done something wrong.

'Oh Savannah, you are truly an amazing girl.' Alex's inner voice compliments within the confines of her mind as her eyes watch the grateful Olivia Benson hold back her own stream of tears at the eleven year olds words and kindness.

Nodding her head towards Savannah, her emotions now at an all time high, the seasoned cop just gives a warm smile and gives a quick glance towards Alex, who was still in place perched on the bed next to Savannah like a protecting guard.

Amanda gives Savannah a slight wave of her hand and to her shock, the young brunette nods in response before turning more into Alex and placing her hand over the blonde's forearm as it was partly wrapped across Savannah's waist.

In that moment between Savannah and the shorter blonde, Alex gives a look towards Olivia which lets the long time lieutenant know she would speak with her later once Savannah was settled and also for the experienced cop not to worry about what happened. So much could be said between the long time friends with only a look, in moments like this it was something which truly did come in handy.

With a final goodbye between the four, Olivia and Amanda exit the treatment area with their hearts well and truly in their stomachs. They would of course be back to talk with Savannah against at some point but it wouldn't be until Alexandra Cabot gave them the okay and after what just happened, that may be some time,

Barely even able to exit the treatment area doors Olivia is suddenly met with a rather dishevelled looking Casey Novak rushing towards her. The phone call between Casey and Liz had been long and excruciating to say the least but now finally free, the younger ADA had other things to worry about.

"Olivia, just the person I need to talk to." Casey announces somewhat abruptly before turning to Amanda and sighing in apology for being so rude and seemingly ignoring her presence.

'Great, now she is going to think I am a rude, uptight bitch. This day really can just bite my ass.' Casey's inner voice scoffs not wanting to get on the wrong foot with the detective who she didn't know all that well above her name and a quick hello in passing.

"Well that sounds ominous Casey, what's up?" Olivia retorts, her mind a fog but was attempting to at least act somewhat like she was on her game and not beating herself up.

"I'm sorry Amanda, I didn't mean to blow you off. It's just been a weird, long day so far." Casey apologises, her coat now draped over her arm and briefcase hanging out of her hand. The call with Donnelly had drained an already emotionally wiped ADA almost completely out.

Amanda nods her head in agreement to that statement and shrugs her shoulders as if to tell the strawberry blonde prosecutor she had nothing to worry about or apologise for. Although having been a part of SVU for seven years now, due to Alex being almost exclusively given their cases the young blonde didn't have too much experience with many other ADA's.

"Yeah, our day is kind of going that way too." Amanda chirps, her hand rubbing very discreetly down Olivia's forearm noticing her boss was in somewhat of a daze, likely beating herself up about what had transpired with Savannah.

Casey's eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion as to just what the blonde detective meant but she had far too much on her plate to add yet another thing to worry about. Looking to Olivia the strawberry blonde ADA regains her focus on the whole reason she came to speak with the lieutenant to begin with.

"So, I have information that you need to know but it just isn't safe to share it in such a public place. This entire case stinks and I need people I can trust and I know you are those people. Would you please indulge me and just come and listen to what I have to say and see what I have to show you?" Casey makes her case, she was drained from the events of the day but this needed to be done.

Olivia raises an interested and confused eyebrow, she'd worked with Casey more than Amanda ever had and knew the woman's reputation. If Casey was telling her she had information and it was sensitive then the seasoned lieutenant wasn't about to brush that off. Motioning for the slightly taller woman to lead the way, Olivia gives a side glance to a slightly confused Amanda.

"It can't hurt to hear her out. Besides we aren't exactly drown in information here." Olivia surmises as Casey happily takes off in front of the two officers of the law to find somewhere the three could talk without prying ears or eyes.

'If this turns into some Munch level conspiracy though I swear I am out.' Olivia mentally informs herself as Casey's interruption is a welcome one and stops the brunette from over thinking what happened with Savannah too much. Unfortunately Olivia would continue to beat herself about it later on, likely when she was back at home with her own son.

It isn't ideal but an unused private hospital room ends up being the place Olivia, Casey and Amanda find themselves huddled in all trying to peer over the photos Casey had taken on her phone.

"It is dodgy as hell right?" Casey asks with that knowing tone in her voice mixed with the need for someone else to agree with her. Her lower lips was being nervously worn by her teeth as hazel eyes watch both detectives closely for their reaction to what she is presenting them.

Pushing her glasses back onto the top of her head after examining a few of the pictures a little more closely Olivia lets out a huge sigh. Hands move to her hips and she reluctantly gives a nod of agreement to the slightly less experienced ADA.

"It sure as hell doesn't look good, not when you add it up with the fact no one seems to know Victor even had a daughter. Then there is the fact she was tied to a bed and has been … subject to only god knows what. This… this not being official and yet in the hands of Captain Delany is… worrying to say the least." Olivia admits, her mind racing a million miles a minute trying to somehow make sense of this all.

Casey nods her head in agreement to the brunette's words, her heart secretly jumping for joy that someone else was seeing this and was just as disturbed as she was. Folding her arms across her chest the strawberry blonde attorney sighs knowing everything had just become so much more complicated.

"So Captain Bruno has been under some sort of surveillance, seemingly for months. It's not official and yet another Captain was in possession of it. What do we do now? This is a minefield and in the middle is a traumatised eleven year old girl." Amanda surmises with the same defeated and sinking feeling growing in the very pit of her stomach.

Olivia removes her glasses from the top of her head and returns them to her nose as she offers her open hand out to Casey for her phone.

"We study these photos, we learn as much as we can from them and then we investigate and see just what the hell is going on here. Savannah is safe now, that is what is most important, the rest we will get to the bottom of but we all need to be careful. This is containing people way above our pay grade so it goes without saying for now, this stays between us." Olivia instructs both her detective and Casey, who both instantly nod in agreement.

Back in the treatment area Savannah has finally regained some of the colour in her cheeks, it wasn't much considering she was very pale anyway but it was something. A nurse had just done some observations on the eleven year old due to how distressed she became and wanting to make sure she was okay. Luckily Savannah's breathing had returned to a normal level and although clearly shaken by what happened she was no longer trembling like the last leaf on a branch in fall.

Still perched on the hospital bed with the young brunette, Alex was refusing to take her eyes off of Savannah. Seeing the eleven year old in such a state had truly rocked Alex to her core and now she as seeing it s her personal mission to make sure nothing like it occurred again.

"You must be so tired Savannah, why don't you close your eyes and try and get some sleep. Don't worry, I'll stay right here with you the entire time." Alex suggests, the fact this young girl was in a constant battle to keep her eyelids open was becoming painful to be witness to.

Savannah turns her head to look up at the beautiful blonde beside her, they weren't cuddling per say but the young brunette had returned her hand to the familiar and comfort of being intertwined with Alex's. For her part the ADA had been lightly and rather absentmindedly stroking her fingertips of her free hand, just barely through Savannah's long locks.

"I… I'm scared to fall asleep." Savannah reveals in a whisper that she knew could only be heard between herself and Alex.

Alex feels her face drop at such a sentence leaving a child's mouth but understood why considering everything Savannah had been through in her short life. Not knowing how exactly to fix this problem the slim blonde just slowly nods her head to show she wasn't ignoring the young girl just thinking.

"Okay, well how about you just close your eyes and me and you talk?" Alex suggests as an alternative, shocking herself slightly with the idea but hey she would take whatever she could get at this point.

Savannah's big brown eyes search Alex's counterparts with trepidation for a few moments before the overtired eleven year old seems to give in. The little brunette gulps down her concern for this plan and after a few practice slow blinks, finally allows her heavy lids to fully close.

Smiling with pride at the beautiful sight of this poor child giving in to her instinct and need to rest, Alex lays her head back a little into the top of Savannah's pillows. She was sat up higher than the young pre teen and was still keeping a protective hold of the tanned, younger hand merged with her own.

"So, tell me what is your favourite colour?" Alex questions, she could tell already by Savannah's breathing that the little brunette was close to slipping off into the world of dreams. A place that the blonde prayed would be kinder to this young girl than the real one had been.

Savannah's face contorts slightly from the question but softens again as her head turns and finds a new position resting on Alex's shoulder. It's a movement which catches the long time prosecutor off guard but in one second manages to completely melt her supposedly frozen heart.

'Oh my… you sweet little girl. How has this world let you down so much? It's okay, you sleep now honey, rest and regain your strength because you have shown you have that in endless amounts.' Alex silently tells the picture perfect, little girl now looking so peaceful.

Shifting her arm which had been wrapped around the top of the pillows so it is now fully wrapped around Savannah's, young and fragile body, Alex just scoots herself a tiny bit closer. Like two puzzle pieces meant for each other the long time ADA finds herself protectively embracing this delicate and inured girl. Their hands were still intertwined and now laying on Alex's lap as Savannah's arm on the far side reaches across and grips onto the neckline of the blue eyed woman's blouse.

"Um, purple. I like purple." Savannah answers with a voice which was cloaked with tiredness and settling breaths from where her young body was giving in to the need for sleep.

The smile which was gracing Alex's lips only grows at the information and she finds her crystal blue eyes become glazed over with stinging emotion. Holding back the flood though, the experienced lawyer takes a breath and just faintly nods her head before resting her cheek on the top of Savannah's head, very lightly.

"Me too." Alex whispers before her own tired eyes close and the now emotionally raw and exhausted counsellor feels just a few warm tears slide down her cheeks. Never before in her life had the 'Ice Queen' felt so connected to someone, so responsible for them and part of that absolutely terrified the blonde to her core and another part of it made her heart flutter.

The next thing Alex is aware of is a nurse gently nudging her shoulder. Apparently the drained ADA had fallen into her own sleep while keeping Savannah safe during her own. They were going to move the young girl to her own room and so needed Alex to dismount the bed for the journey.

It is tricky but with the help of the nurse the still sleep dazed lawyer manages to detangle herself from a now peacefully slumbering eleven year old without so much as a murmur. Savannah was out for the count and going by the look of contentment across her beautiful features that was only for the best.

Alex keeps an eye on the little brunette and follows closely behind as she is transferred to one of the wards and her own little room. Not sure how long she had actually be out for, the still tired ADA rummages in her bag for her phone and reluctantly turns it on to check the time. It was almost five and as expected her phone was now becoming nothing more than a constant notification of missed messages and voice mails that Alex had no interest in paying any mind to at least until tomorrow.

Letting her phone drop back into the pit of no return, Alex lets out a large yawn and stretches out her limbs. The tall blonde hadn't been home or had a proper sleep for coming up forty eight hours now and although used to burning the candle at both ends, now Alex was finding her fingers were becoming severely singed.

"All those nights out partying are catching up with you ahey?" Casey's raspy voice comments from behind the slightly taller woman and catches Alex off guard.

Not jumping though Alex just finds herself grinning like some kind of cartoon character at the realisation the stunning strawberry blonde was now back in her company. Thankful that her back was to the fellow attorney, Alex collects herself and expression and slowly turns around on the balls of her aching feet. Heels could burn in hell after the past two days.

'The last time you saw this woman you had your tongue down her throat and you choose to goad her the first chance you get? God you really are a dumbass Casey.' The younger of the two women mentally berates herself all while keeping herself looking composed on the outside.

Casey's stomach knots as she is able to look back into those truly breathtaking blue orbs belonging to the more experienced councillor. They had hardly left with all the loose ends tied and now was undoubtedly about to be very awkward for the both of them.

"Well getting all my paper work done really is the party girl's dream yes." Alex retorts with her suppressed smile fighting at the corners of her lips to break out wider now face to face with the truly stunning lawyer, whose perfume Alex was sure she could still smell on her clothing.

Becoming lost once again within one another's eyes, Alex and Casey both have to physically look at something else in order to refocus. For the taller of the two, Alex nods her head towards a large plastic bag Casey was holding in one of her hands.

"Oh, yes I brought reinforcements for you and Savannah." Casey begins to explain, her hazel eyes lighting up as she speaks, something that has the blonde prosecutor's chest tightening for a moment.

'So the last time I saw her I was prepared to bang her on the bathroom floor and now she is making my heart flutter all because of the way her eyes change colour? What the fuck Cabot?' Alex internally questions her own actions as she awaits the strawberry blonde attorney to reveal what she considered reinforcements.

Digging into the large, white plastic shopping bag Casey looks up at Alex with a bright smile and pulls out a pair of brand new pyjamas, they seemed to have some kind of pattern on them but Alex was still too tired to take any real notice.

"I don't have to be told you will be staying here tonight with Savannah to know you will so I thought you may want something more comfortable to change in to for the evening. I also got you a toothbrush, hair brush, tooth paste and some simple sweatpants and a hoodie for tomorrow. Let's be honest here Alex, you've been in that outfit for forty eight hours nearly, you should really change before they crawl away." Casey reveals in a joking manner, her eyes shining in the hospital corridor light and that mixed with her overly kind and thoughtful reinforcements causes Ms Alexandra Cabot to fall silent.

'This may be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me in my entire life. Who are you Casey Novak?' Alex ponders silently as she realises by the glint in the fellow attorney's hazel eyes, Casey was far from done.

"Oh and I didn't forget Savannah of course, she has some PJ's, I wasn't sure what she'd like so I went with 'Toy Story' because who doesn't love 'Toy Story'?" Casey asks deadly serious, her hand rummaging in the large plastic bag once more to present the tall blonde in front of her the garments.

Alex remains silent in order to allow the clearly enthused ADA to finish off listing the items in her bag which couldn't have been cheap all together. Casey had gone way out of her way to do this and it was making Alex's heart fill with utter admiration for the slightly younger woman.

'I'm going to take a chance here and say I shouldn't mention that I have never watched 'Toy Story'. I have a feeling for Casey that may well be considered blasphemy.' Again Alex's inner voice comments so only the tall and tired blonde could hear.

"I also got her like you, toothbrush, hairbrush, wash cloth I forgot to mention that, toothpaste also but in bubblegum flavour because she's eleven and… I may have some at home for my own personal use. Besides all that I got her this cool unicorn nightlight thing, it glows all different colours and I thought it might help her tonight with sleeping in a new place." Casey reveals the final few pieces of her gift package, her caring nature shining through even more as each item was listed.

Casey looks up from the bag in which she had been partially lifting each item from to show Alex and notices the way the taller woman was looking at her. For a second the less experienced lawyer's stomach knots, not sure if fear was the right response to be having but with those piercing blue eyes locked on her it would at least be a safe bet.

The way the natural ivory skinned female pales a few shades and her eyes grow wide with concern, Alex feels an odd sensation hit her heart. It was as though someone had just burst Casey's bubble and now she was like a deer in the headlights just waiting for the famous Ms Cabot to unleash on her.

"Did I do something wrong? I mean, I know this is all out of my scope as an ADA but hearing about what this girl has been through it… it broke my heart. I just wanted to try and give her something positive to focus o instead of tests and scans and… pelvic exams." Casey hesitantly questions, the reasons for her actions spilling from her tongue as though she was under some kind of investigation and getting her defence in early.

Alex shakes her head furiously, almost knocking her glasses from her face as she realises Casey had completely misread the look she had been giving her. Apparently her reputation truly did precede her after all.

Reaching out with her long arm, Alex touches Casey's hand which is wrapped around the handle of the plastic bag and continues to shake her head in firm disagreement with the strawberry blonde's conclusion.

"Objection! You have done nothing wrong at all Casey, I … I'm sorry if you thought I was..." Alex takes a breath and looks down for a moment in an attempt to collect herself.

The contact between the blonde prosecutors hand and her slightly younger colleague is enough for both women to instantly flash back to their intimate moments in that bathroom. It was a subject both had been avoiding and clearly had no intention of actually bringing up but that didn't stop it from seeping in to both of their brains.

"I actually think you doing all this… is probably the most honest, true and sweetest thing I have ever actually seen. I was looking at you like that because honestly, I was admiring you and your kind and thoughtful heart." Alex tries again, her words oddly catching in her throat slightly but she quickly regains herself and finds her strength once more.

Hazel eyes melt at Alex's kind words and Casey finds she is suddenly the one unable to verbally respond. Instead the strawberry blonde just licks her bottom lip and gives an almost shy smile, praying her cheeks don't show any signs of the fact inside she is blushing.

"I almost forgot I also got Savannah some markers and colouring books, hospitals are boring for kids especially. There um, is a handful for books for her too, you know to try and take her mind off of everything." Casey reveals, using her bag of goodies as a way to stop from blurting out something she was all too aware she would regret.

Alex's lips turn into a warm smile from the fellow councillors reaction and just nods her head in agreement with every item Casey lists off, agreeing how brilliant of an idea they were. Wherever this stunning woman had come from, Alexandra Cabot was in debt to her.

Blue eyes peer into the top of the opened bag for a moment and Alex frowns with curiosity as she reaches inside and pulls out a rather cuddly monkey stuffed animal. Tilting her head to the side with an amused smirk gracing her lips, Casey beams brightly with not the slightest ounce of embarrassment,.

"George! How could I have forgotten about him." Casey chuckles as she takes the toy into her own hand and shows him off to the taller ADA with great glee.

"George? Oh, okay I see as in curious George?" Alex questions with curiosity, her arms folding back across her chest but in a much more relaxed stance than at any other point in the day.

Seemingly shocked that someone like Alex Cabot was aware of such a character as Curious George, Casey nods, clearly impressed. The less experienced prosecutor shrugs her shoulders slightly and shakes the now named monkey toy with a giggle reverberating from her lungs and lighting up her entire face.

"Yes actually. It's kind of stupid I guess but my dad always said every kid should have a favourite toy that when they're scared or lonely they can cuddle and… suddenly everything isn't so bad. I guessed Savannah hasn't got something like that and well, I saw this guy and couldn't resist." Casey answers as her hazel eyes lock once more with sapphire counterparts and the two women just fall into a comfortable silence.

Alex takes in a shaky breath, suddenly the burning sensation which had rippled through her in the bathroom was returning with vengeance. Not only was Casey intelligent and gorgeous by every description possible she had this kind and caring nature that even if she tried to hide she would never succeed in. Never before had someone's heart drawn Alex in and ignited pure attraction but this talented ADA most certainly had.

"You know she dozed off but I think the ride to her new room kind of woke her up a little. She has to have an observation check soon anyway, why don't you come in and introduce yourself and give her all this yourself?" Alex suggests, a panic starting to rise inside her at the thought Casey would soon be leaving.

Every now and then Alex had turned into the window of the private side room to make sure Savannah hadn't woken to find herself alone in an unfamiliar place. Her little body was only just starting to show movement so the tall, model worthy blonde was rather anxious to get back in to her.

"You don't think it will be too much for her? Meeting someone new I mean?" Casey asks with concern, the last thing she wanted to do was cause Savannah anymore upset than she had already suffered. Olivia and Amanda had filled the attorney in on what happened during their session looking over the file photos.

Thinking for a moment, her lips pouting together slightly as blue eyes glance back into the room and at Savannah, Alex slowly shakes her head and turns back to face Casey. Her long blonde locks fall from her shoulder at the movement and Casey has to stop herself from watching her fellow lawyer in slow motion like they were in a romantic comedy.

"No I actually think she'll be okay. Beside's you're going to be bringing her gifts so she'll probably end up liking you more than me." Alex jokes softly, for some reason something inside her was telling her Savannah would be absolutely fine with meeting Casey.

Not waiting around for the strawberry blonde to agree with her, Alex takes a few steps closer to the hospital room door and slowly makes her way inside. Her hand behind her motioning for Casey to follow behind as the taller of the two makes her way across to Savannah's bed.

The little brunette was still curled on her side, eyes shut but the look of peace was starting to be interrupted where Savannah was clearly waking up from her hopefully peaceful dreams.

Casey has to stifle a gasp as for the first time she gets a look at this eleven year old girl in person and her heart almost shatters. Savannah was tiny, even hidden beneath the hospital blankets her lack of weight was striking and all the prosecutor could imagine was how badly injured she was underneath the surface.

'Some people just have no souls. Who could hurt this beautiful little thing?' Casey's mind asks the age old question knowing all too well no answer would ever be sufficient but still asks it all the same.

Standing back slightly, not wanting to terrify Savannah or overcrowd her it was Casey's turn to watch in admiration as Alex slips from her court room persona into a role that didn't have any defined name but takes the younger attorney's breath clean from her lungs.

Alex's shoulders drop and her long arms unravel from around herself as the tall, elegant blonde bends over slightly and strokes a very delicate hand down Savannah's cheek. It is just enough contact for the eleven year olds eyes to flicker open but not enough to cause her any fear or startle her.

"A… Alex?" Savannah whispers instantly, there was panic in her voice but only just starting to bubble to the surface instead of full blown. Her chocolate brown eyes were not even fully open or adjusted from the change of being asleep to awake but her first word was the long time ADA's name.

"Yeah sweetheart, I'm right here. It's okay, the doctors just moved you to your own room so you would have more peace. Would you like some water honey? The doctor said a nurse would bring you some food in a little bit, you must be starving." Alex coos tenderly into the young brunette's ear as Savannah allows her sleep daze to drift off of her.

'Wow, this little girl has melted the supposed 'Ice Queen' to no more than a snowman. Can't say I blame Alex on that one though, there is something about this girl.' Casey remarks within the confines of her mind as she continues to watch the blonde and injured eleven year old interact.

Grimacing, all be it silently, as she attempts to sit up once more in the oversized bed Savannah nods her head gently. Alex is quick to ghost the pre teen's body softly with her hands and puffs up the pillows behind her back, trying in vain, to elevate any pain before it hits the young girl.

"Drink, please Alex." Savannah strains out politely, her voice very rough from the sleep she had just been in, not to mention everything her young body had been through as a whole.

Picking up an already poured out glass of cold water, with a straw, Alex guides the plastic to Savannah's lips and keeps the glass steady as the exhausted, little brunette gulps down as much water as she can. Her mouth felt like sandpaper where it was so dry and she was desperate for some kind of fluids, apart from the ones still being pumped into her by IV.

Alex smiles kindly at the still drowsy brunette and just tenderly strokes some of her long, dark locks from her face. Getting a good look at the truly beautiful eleven year old, Alex gives a nod of her head and cups Savannah's cheek.

"Better?" Alex asks sweetly, only convinced Savannah was done with the water once the brunette gives a nod of response and rests her head back into the pillows a little more.

'She's been up for nearly two days straight, hasn't showered or to my knowledge eaten in almost twenty four and still somehow has this grace about her. There is no way Alex even realises how naturally and fitting it seems for her to be in the role of mother.' Casey's inner voice comments as hazel eyes continue to watch Alex's movements almost in a trance.

A warm smile graces Casey's plump lips as for a brief moment her mind runs away with its self and imagines a world in which this breath taking blonde was soothing a child they shared and raised together. Her mind conjures up the images of gold bands on their left hands and a happiness that neither of them dared to even dream of. Of course this was all just a flash in the overactive imagination of the strawberry blonde prosecutor but the feelings it stirs deep within Casey's heart are very real and incredibly strong.

'Alexandra Cabot is so much more than anyone would ever guess or I'm betting believe. The fact she was the one to find Savannah can't just be by accident, I may no longer be a good little catholic girl but I played that part long enough to know something's just happen because they are meant to.'

* * *

 _ **And we reach the end of another chapter. Thank you to all of you who encouraged me and motivated me to continue this story. I truly hope I did not let you down.**_

 _ **In the next chapters there is some really strong bonding between Alex, Casey and Savannah and I am hopeful you are all really going to enjoy what I come up with.**_

 _ **To those of you who leave a review (If any of you do), thank you for the bottom of my heart and I truly look forward to reading everything you have to say. Please never feel shy in asking me any kind of questions, suggesting anything you'd like to see or well just anything at all.**_

 _ **Until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	8. George Saves The Day

_**Thank you all so very much for the continued support of this fic. I truly appreciate it so very much and getting to read your reviews, your thoughts, what you are thinking, wanting, suspecting and everything else in between is just beyond helpful for me and truly heart warming to get to read. thank you for taking the time to do that, you are all so amazing!**_

 _ **Now Casey finally meets Savannah in this chapter and well, I enjoyed writing this chapter beyond words so all I can say is I truly hope you enjoy and let me know what you think, if you are so kind!**_

 _ **I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

" **George Saves The Day"**

The private room of the hospital was much more peaceful than the rather frantic and constant noises that fill the treatment area. There were less pairs of eyes watching Savannah, less unknown voices to be heard speaking about her in the corner and most importantly less doctors waiting to perform some kind of test.

For Savannah, the quiet was somewhere she was not only used to but felt an odd sense of insurance in. The private room was perfect in the sense of its tranquillity but also in the fact it was surrounded by four walls. This meant safety, some form of barrier between her and the strangers, protection from whatever else this hospital may have to offer her. Within her own little room Savannah was not so exposed, she could see the only way in and out of the room and for a girl like Savannah that brought great relief and comfort.

A small, fragile and deflated shell belonging to the eleven year old girl was lying in the hospital bed five times too big for her. Savannah's brown eyes were still heavy, her power nap only going so far in recharging her batteries. With her physical condition mixed with such high running emotions and the overall lack of sleep it was safe to say Savannah's batteries had been well and truly depleted so it was going to take a lot for them to be recharged.

Now sure that Savannah has woken up fully and was as comfortable as she was going to get considering everything her poor body has suffered through and feeling the repercussions of, Alex looks over her shoulder to the doorway where Casey was stood like an obedient puppy. Hazel eyes were large and attempting not to stare directly over at Alex and Savannah like some kind of odd stalker in the shadows, she was kind of failing at that one.

Casey's skirt was just skimming the tops of her knees, her crisp blouse half tucked into the waist band and her blazer wrinkled and dishevelled. The Harvard graduate looked as though she'd run a gauntlet and in all fairness the day's activities amounted to something not too far off one. It was safe to say she was exhausted but in comparison to the other two people in the room she probably had the least to complain about.

Biting back the urge to smirk or make a sarcastic comment, Alex's blue eyes lock in on Casey through the dimly lit room. It is a look which stirred a reaction in both women's stomachs and had the slightly shorter of the two women's ruby lips tug half way up to turn into a smile. With a nod of her head Alex indicates the younger ADA should make her way over before turning back to Savannah, still somewhat leaning over her bed.

Alex tenderly strokes the girl's hand with her thumb, for a moment just admiring this young girl's strength and gains her attention. Those big brown eyes were weary and mostly hidden by the protective curtain of hair but the blonde could make out enough of them to tell the young girl was paying attention to her.

"I have a friend who would really like to meet you Savannah. You don't have to worry though she isn't here to ask you any questions or take you for any horrible tests or anything like that. In fact she actually has some gifts for you, to help you feel a little more comfortable. Is it okay if she comes over and says hi?" Alex asks Savannah carefully, after the situation with Olivia and Amanda the last thing the tall blonde wanted to do was distress the eleven year old anymore.

Savannah's large eyes open a little wider and although part of her tenses at the news of a guests, she quickly relaxes again slightly the more Alex explains. Looking into the now comforting sea of blue behind Alex's glasses, the young brunette finds a confidence just in knowing that her saviour was there with her.

'Alex is with you Savannah, she hasn't let anyone hurt you. Alex is a good person, a true good person. She doesn't lie, she keeps her promises. This… this is okay.' Savannah mentally coaches herself with the lessons she had formed rather quickly since first meeting the experienced, blonde lawyer.

"As long as you stay then…sure." Savannah answers quietly, her eyes averting the approaching person and finding something interesting to look at on the hospital blue blanket that was draped over her legs and waist.

A guilty tug pulls at Alex's stomach realising this young girl was on such high alert, of course she would be. It was rather stupid of her to think that this would not be something else to add anxiety to the eleven year old but they'd started now. Wanting to at least offer some kind of support and relief to Savannah, a larger, delicate hand quickly joins up with Savannah's in their reassuring hold which brings the brunette's head back up, just slightly to give a look of thanks to the older woman.

Tired feet trudge the small trip over to the bed and Casey suddenly feels as though there are hot coals underneath her feet. There is a knee jerk reaction to just race forward, perhaps due to nervous energy but somehow the slightly shorter woman resists and approaches slowly. Looking to her blonde counterpart for some form of encouragement, the ivory skinned lawyer gulps down her nerves and breaks into a bright smile.

"Hey Savannah, my name's Casey Novak. I don't want you to worry because I wasn't good at taking orders from my teachers as school so I couldn't possibly be a cop and I would faint every four seconds if I was any kind of a doctor or nurse. So, I promise you I am just another ADA like Alex here, completely harmless." Casey informs Savannah, hoping her humour would connect with the traumatized child who probably just wanted to sleep and not keep being bothered by all of these strangers.

Alex's crystal eyes watches Savannah closely, her little head was bowed down, her hair falling in front of her face as a barrier and body tense. It wasn't a mystery as to why this poor girl felt the need to try and hide from strangers but it didn't make it any less heartbreaking to witness.

Glancing up to Casey with an almost apologetic expression, Alex delicately rubs her free hand up and down Savannah's forearm as the small brunette doesn't respond. The little brunette was aware of Casey's presence though and sneaking looks of the new arrival all while using her long hair as cover.

'Why is she apologising with her eyes? God, if I was Savannah I would have probably… found a closet to hide in like I did earlier today.' Casey's inner voice mocks herself as she gives a subtle shake of her head towards the blue eyed beauty on the opposite side of the bed.

"Do people… have to… do what you… tell them too?" Savannah's voice asks out of nowhere, although only soft it easily captures the attention of the entire room and brings both Alex and Casey into a complete state of shock upon hearing it.

The tall prosecutor's mouth drops a few inches as her eyes grow wide hearing this traumatised child open up so willingly and quickly to someone other than herself. It actually makes her heart flutter and she is quick to stare at Casey as a silent nudge for the fellow prosecutor to respond.

'Holy crap she's talking to me. Holy crap I need to say something back before Alex throws one of her shoes at me or something.' Casey orders herself silently before shaking her head free from her thoughts and clearing her throat with a little cough.

"It.. it sure does. It's one of the reasons I become one to begin with." Casey answers sweetly, her hazel eyes glancing up to meet Alex's in the same state of amazement the blonde was.

The tired but far from stupid brunette pauses for a moment, her mind weighing up the implications of Casey's answer. A question enters Savannah's mind and with a tightness in her chest she slowly allows her dry lips to open so she can ask it.

"So…. So what if you tell Alex what to do or she tells you, who wins then?" Savannah questions with genuine curiosity, her bowed head nudging upwards just enough to get a first clear look at this new person to come in to her life.

'She's very pretty, like Alex. Do you have to be pretty to be an ADA?' Savannah's childlike side inner voice which for so long had been suffocating questions silently as it regains its first breath of freedom in so long.

That had not been something either long time serving member of the DA's office had expected to hear. Their faces simultaneously break out into massive grins and chuckles start to reverberate up from their lungs as they each contemplate their answer. As if on cue though it is the voice of the slightly more experienced ADA who gives her answer first.

"Well, in that case-" Alex's voice confidently begins her answer but only gets four words out of her thin pink lips before she is instantly interrupted by Casey.

"Me, I win. Every single time." The strawberry blonde attorney jokes, her eyebrow wiggling as she takes the seat beside Savannah's bed and dramatically leans her elbow on the side table and leans in closer to the eleven year old like it was a private conversation.

Once again Alex finds her jaw is hitting the top of her shoes and for a moment she is completely knocked out of the game all together. A very slight smirk starts to tug at her lips though as even the 'Ice Queen' finds the humour in the situation as seemingly so does Savannah.

A sweet, beautiful sound fills the hospital room a Savannah's little body bounces slightly, she was laughing, a real, guttural laugh. This wasn't just a giggle or snigger, this was a genuine laugh, one that couldn't be contained or dampened by any amount of horrendous circumstances or even pain.

Now the tall blonde is in shock for a completely different reason and she feels her eyes begin to sting with that familiar sensation of needing to release tears upon finally hearing this beautiful child's laugh. It was music to the ADA's ears and has Alex nudging at her glasses to discreetly wipe under her eyes while Savannah is distracted by Casey.

'She laughed, she actually laughed. That may be the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Oh Casey, you have no idea what you have just achieved.' Alex mentally comments as thankful blue eyes lock in on Casey's hazel ones across the bed and show just how grateful she is without a word being uttered.

Alex Cabot's unspoken words are dismissed by Casey who was refusing to take any credit for the fact Savannah had laughed. Shaking her head subtly to indicate as much, Casey just leans a little closer to Savannah but not close enough where the poor girl would feel uncomfortable. Reaching into the large plastic bag that was now at her feet, the less experienced of the two prosecutors gathers George the monkey and slowly presents him towards the young brunette.

"So, I know today has kind of sucked for you. All the doctors and nurses asking questions and taking blood and everything else so I have someone who I think will help you forget about all that. His name is George and as you can see he is a cheeky monkey." Casey reveals, her hand bobbing the stuffed toy back and forth playfully until it catches Savannah's attention and turns the young girls head to face the younger lawyer completely.

Now it was this sweet eleven year olds turn to have her mouth drop from shock. She of course doesn't dare reach out of the toy but the way she shifts to sit up a little straighter is a clear indicator she was more than intrigued by the fluffy guy.

Glancing across the hospital bed towards Alex, Casey's hazel eyes sparkle with pure joy at the fact what she was doing was seeming to have a very positive effect on Savannah. It was something amazing to see and to know that maybe, just possibly she was bringing this young girl something to be happy about felt magical.

'She is eleven years old and yet it's a cuddly toy which is exciting her and bringing her out of her shell. I never would have figured that out.' Alex mentally takes note, again praising her younger co worker as well as silently thanking her for finding all these small ways to help Savannah feel safer.

"Now George here, he loves cuddles. He is super soft and I have it on great authority he doesn't even snore." Casey continues to bluster up the hype for this stuffed animal and finds her heart warming as ever so slightly Savannah leans in for a better look.

'She is such a natural with kids. I was panicking I wouldn't know what to do, how to talk to her and here comes Super Casey Novak, child entertainer expert.' Alex jokes to herself as she feels Savannah trying to edge closer to the offered toy.

Catching herself though, the young brunette freezes and turns her head to look at the tall blonde whose hand she was still holding. Her long, dark hair moves enough from the movement for Alex to get a look at Savannah's young, innocent eyes. Alex had never seen a look of such utter happiness before but it dawns on the blonde that Savannah is looking towards her because she is asking for permission to take this gift for her own.

"It's okay Savannah, he is yours. Why don't you hold him and see how he feels?" Alex urges softly, her chest aching realising once again Savannah truly had no idea how to be any form of a child without permission and obedience.

Casey nods in agreement and stretches her hand out so Savannah didn't have to move anymore and lets the stuffed animal just sit on the hospital bed rail. Cautiously the tanned, small hand belonging to Savannah finds the courage to reach out and take George into her possession. Almost like petting an animal for the very first time, Savannah hesitates but curiously inspects the gift now it is in her hands and brings it slowly up towards her chest as her tired body relaxes back into the bed's pillows.

"He is so fluffy. Is… is he really for me?" Savannah asks in a voice which was seeking approval and reassurance but far too afraid to be anything louder than a whisper.

The eleven year old was unsure who of the two lawyers she should be asking this to so just looks back and forth between both Alex and Casey while her hand keeps George in place now sat on her lap. Savannah wasn't going to fully embrace this stuffed monkey until she could be sure that it wouldn't be cruelly taken away from her.

A tension had risen within both Casey and Alex's chests as they wait on an edge knife to see if Savannah would allow herself this very small comfort. Seeing the small hands caress and pull George the monkey, each lawyer lets out a restrained breath from relief and joy. It's because of this that it takes a few seconds for this sweet girl's question to actually register for the two lawyers, each caught in their own emotions of what they were witnessing.

Casey's heartbreaks at such a question but hides any outward reaction and gives Savannah a bright smile which causes her hazel eyes to truly sparkle. Spotting the way Casey's eyes react, Alex unexpectedly smiles fondly at this truly stunning strawberry blonde who had entered her life like a whirlwind.

"He is absolutely yours, one hundred and fifty thousand percent." Casey assures with a nod of her head.

The second the words leave her lips Savannah's arm wraps around the neck of the monkey and brings him up close to her chest and under her chin. It was a move someone much younger than her would be well versed in but for Savannah it was her very first time having any kind of toy she could call her own.

"Thank you so much Casey." Savannah strains out, her emotions apparently having caught up with her as the soft, fluffy monkey finds its new positioning just underneath her chin.

Never before had a 'Thank you' caused the Harvard law school graduate to almost cry but the most honest of words coming from Savannah brings Casey's heart up into her mouth. She has to physically gulp it back down into its proper placing before just smiling brightly at the smitten eleven year old.

"You are more than welcome. I have some other goodies in here for you too but we can worry about them a bit later." Casey explains, her eyes catching the approaching nurse and doctor just outside the hospital room window and surmising they would be making their entrance soon.

As Savannah pulls George in closer, her long hair cascades from her shoulders and wraps around the toy almost like a blanket. Although physical affection was foreign to this beautiful young girl, the natural instinct isn't lost and she places a comforting kiss to the top of her monkey's head while repositioning herself a little on the bed, after all she had company now.

A jolting knock on the room door echoes through the hospital room and causes Alex to jump slightly and turn around to see who was entering. After the events of the day it was safe to say the 'Ice Queen' was on edge. Piercing blue eyes glare with an unspoken threat as Savannah physically flinches and squeezes her small digits in to the larger hand still gripping her own.

"Oh Doctor Jennings, you startled us a little. Savannah, it's alright darling it's just the Doctor and a nurse." Alex wearily explains, just like that the beautiful eleven year old had retreated back into her shell, only this time she had a fluffy monkey to keep her company.

The doctor's eyes regretfully close for a brief moment, as she makes her way further in to the room and realises just making her way inside had put Savannah in such distress. With an apologetic nod towards the tall blonde stood beside Savannah's bed, the tired doctor looks over the chart which was now located at the foot of the young girl's bed.

'Thankfully I consider myself on good terms with Ms Cabot because if I didn't, going by her glare I would most likely be pushing up daises.' The raven haired doctor's inner voice remarks unable to ignore the slice Alex's blue eyes had made through her confidence and fear levels.

Alex shakes her head with a very subtle sigh exiting her lungs and pulls back some of her golden locks just disheartened to see the progress that had been made so quickly ripped away and sent back to square one. She gracefully turns back to Savannah and gently rubs the back of her hand which was now relaxing again slightly while interlaced with the blonde's.

The words of encouragement from Alex don't do much for Savannah and her face is once again fully hidden behind her hair as her head is bowed down and shoulders hunched up underneath her ears. It slices through Casey's heart watching the walls quickly rebuild and just like Alex had she sighs from not knowing what else to do.

Doctor Jennings begins to speak with a half listening Alex about how Savannah was doing and the fact they were likely going to keep her in for a few nights, at least until her hydration levels were back and more stable. Nodding her head faintly to indicate she is indeed listening, the experienced ADA's blue eyes stay fixed on Savannah and her retreating behaviour.

'Well at least in here she will be able to gain some strength and start the healing process. Maybe a few extra days of resting could be beneficial for Savannah.' Alex's inner voice surmises, her hand still holding Savannah's rhythmically stroking her thumb across the back of the eleven years hand.

There is a mention of CPS but in typical fashion of an overstretched government system they were running behind with little to no contact to be had so their arrival date was yet to be determined.

'CPS! Of course they will be taking custody of Savannah and… and probably move her to some kind of group home if they have the room. Oh god I didn't even think about any of that.' Alex's mind crushingly reminds the model worthy blonde within the privacy of her own thoughts as the doctor continues to speak but is basically ignored.

Casey's hazel eyes recognise and acknowledge doctor Jennings arrival but instantly the younger ADA turns her attention fully onto Savannah. The natural redhead's eyebrows rise on her forehead as she clearly concocts some sort of an idea.

"Psst, Savannah. It's me Casey." Casey dramatically whispers towards the now hunched up eleven year old in the hospital bed. For added affect the strawberry blonde was even covering her mouth with her hand so no one could tell she was speaking or read her lips.

There is a moment of hesitation from the young girl in the hospital bed, she isn't sure if she had actually heard what she had or if her sleep deprived mind may well of just run away with its self. Sitting frozen on the bed Savannah's breath catches in her lungs and every muscle tenses just dreading the fact doctor Jennings was once again in her company.

'Has she lost her mind, what is she playing at?' Alex questions her younger co worker, her attention now fully on Casey and a tense, trembling Savannah whose hand was still connected with her own.

"Psssssssssssstttttttt, Savannah. It's Casey, if you can hear me wiggle your nose." Casey tries again, she was in the same position but this time even louder and less discreet in her communication attempts with the small brunette.

The unusual noise peeks Savannah's interest more this time and manages to break its way through her defensive walls and barriers and fully gather the brunette's attention. The cogs inside her mind were turning as on whether she should respond or not but eventually her curiosity wins out and very, very discreetly her button nose can be seen to wiggle from underneath her curtain of hair. Casey had scored a touchdown.

"Oh, fantastic! I thought we had lost you in the jungle of hair. Hey, is everything okay in there? Is George behaving himself?" Casey asks playfully, she was pulling this completely out of her ass but she would do anything at this point to take Savannah's mind off of everything else.

Once again, Savannah's little shoulders bounce up and down as she more successfully this time manages to with hold a laugh. Cautiously her small, aching body leans in a little more to Casey's side of the bed and with a shaking hand points out her index finger and beckons the strawberry blonde to lean in closer to her.

Alex was dumbfounded by what she was witnessing but remains completely entranced all the same. What was currently happening between Casey and Savannah was magical and the long time prosecutor wasn't going to miss out on a single second. Her hand raises up towards a still speaking doctor Jennings and brings their one sided conversation to a grinding halt as piercing blue eyes gaze with pure admiration towards her co worker and Savannah.

No one had ever done that to the long time doctor before but for some reason the fact it was this tall, elegant and powerful blonde doing it, doctor Jennings falls completely silent. The raven haired woman was not amused in the slightest but still just waits patiently like some chastised servant.

Casey grins like a Cheshire cat and instinctively leans in like she had been silently instructed to do and presents her ear for Savannah to talk into as though it was some kind of walkie-talkie system.

"George is… fine but he is scared the doctor will take me… for more tests. Don't let her do that, please Casey." Savannah's delicate voice faintly whispers into the shell of Casey's ear and stabs through the strawberry's blonde ability to withhold her tears.

'DO NOT FUCKINNG CRY CASEY! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!' Casey's inner voice viciously screams instructions at the struggling lawyer as hazel orbs flicker over to doctor Jennings and her nurse. The image was blurred due to threatening tears but Casey managed to lock in on the medical staff all the same.

Sitting back just a little Casey settles herself with a calming breath before directing her own lips in towards Savannah's surprisingly waiting little ear. The eleven year old had even tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear for better access and in the process stole another piece of Ms Novak's heart.

"Well, you tell George he has nothing to worry about. Me and Alexandra the great aren't going to allow you to be taken anywhere else at all tonight. We're ADA's remember?" Casey informs the small child through the guise of comforting a stuffed monkey, her words spoken loud enough for the other adults in the room to hear and take note of.

Blue eyes quickly find the doctor again and Alex just gives a knowing look which the raven haired woman nods in response to before quickly jotting down what had to be put on Savannah's chart and returning it to the holder at the end of the bed. Alexandra Cabot was not the kind of person you ignored when they were staring you down like a sniper ready to take out a target.

As both Casey and Alex keep their gazes directed solely on the doctor, the raven haired woman finds herself becoming uneasy. She was more than used to high stress situations but something about these two, powerful women over watching her every move like protective lionesses, suddenly the doctor was starting to sweat.

"I just wanted to say good night Savannah, it was so nice meeting you today. I'm sorry about all those tests but you were a champion. I will see you tomorrow but I promise, no more tests okay? Sleep well. Alex, Casey I will see you both tomorrow too I am sure. Goodnight." Doctor Jennings reveals before offering a tired nod and wave of her hand as she makes her exit, her nurse following behind not wanting to risk receiving the same icy glare her boss had from one Alexandra Cabot.

Melting back into the pillows of her bed and releasing her tense muscles now the doctor had left, Savannah lets out one long, slow breath of relief. Her poor body was still trembling from her withheld tension and fear but it was lessening by the second. Her hand still holding on to Alex's tugs, just faintly and brings the beautiful blond in closer with little to no effort.

"Savannah, are you okay sweetheart? The doctor is gone now, it's just you, me, Casey and… George." Alex questions fearfully, her heart was on edge that something else may be causing Savannah's upset.

'Is she is pain, do I need to go and get the doctor again?' Alex's mind frantically panics, something the graceful lawyer was normally an expert at preventing. As a long time prosecutor and member of the Cabot family she had learnt as a young age how to work things out, how to handle situations with that apparently famous icy demeanour but never before had she faced something like this.

"Can… can I go to… sleep now please? I'm so tired Alex." Savannah pleads, her voice drowning in utter exhaustion and bubbling emotions caused from the events of the past twenty four hours.

Realisation washes over Alex like a waterfall and her already twisting stomach forms yet another knot at the eleven year olds plea. Just the fact Savannah felt the need to ask for permission to go to sleep was painful for both ADA's now either side of the young girls hospital bed and catches them equally off guard. Alex isn't entirely sure why but finds her blue eyes travel quickly over the bed to Casey's awaiting hazel ones, perhaps for some kind of encouragement as to what to say in response or perhaps just looking for solidarity knowing Casey was experiencing the exact same heart crushing emotions right now.

"Oh Savannah, you don't have to ask if it's okay. You can sleep whenever you feel you need to. Do you want me to recline the bed a little so you're more laid down flat?" Alex questions, her free hand reaching for the worn remote which held the controls to the bed.

Casey's ruby lips fight off a smirk as the slightly older woman across from her has to lean in just a little too close to actually read the worn instructions on the remote. It was something so simple, so natural and un meaningful and yet the strawberry blonde finds herself truly amused by it.

"No, thank you. I… I like it like this." Savannah responds quickly, panic setting into her voice at the thought of being laid flat again. The scars of the condition Alex found her in within her bedroom weren't confined solely to the outside of this young brunette.

Feeling a warm, little hand being placed onto her wrist has Alex's crystal blue eyes looking up from the controls and frowning slightly. Savannah's eyes were still for the most part hidden by her hair but something about what could be seen told the attorney this young girl was panicking.

A silent beat passes across the room as Alex's heart twinges with regret for having suggested the idea of laying Savannah down flat once again. She'd not given it a second thought but seeing such fear etched across the eleven year olds face was more than enough of a realisation for Alex to know she should have.

Savannah gulps dryly, her trembling little digits placed loosely around the blonde lawyer's wrist twitching as the brunette retracts her hand and visibly leans her body back and away from Alex. The motion would have been a clean jerk if not for the fact Savannah learnt long ago that was never a good idea and so instead had opted for a much slower movement, praying her back tracking would be enough to avoid punishment or backlash.

"I'm sorry, I… I… I …" Savannah begins to stutter out an awkward and un needed apology, her hand still connected with Alex's now limp but turning cold as terror passes through the eleven year olds system.

"Hey Savannah, it's cool. I don't think Alex was going to be able to figure out how the controls worked anyway. Just take a breath, please honey. It's all okay." Casey jumps into the conversation, her hazel eyes wide from concern at this child's withdrawing manner and obvious panic.

Alex feels yet another blow to her already broken and battered heart as Savannah recoils from her. It takes every ounce of strength the blonde possess but somehow Alex remains un phased and just lightly strokes her thumb up and down the back of Savannah's hand.

"Savannah, you don't have to be sorry. You did nothing wrong sweetheart, it's all okay. Can you take a breath please, just focus on me. Savannah…. Please." Alex pleads with growing emotion entering her words.

Just like she had previously with Olivia, Savannah was retreating into an unknown but traumatizing state. The young brunette was reverting back to behaviour which likely until now had in some way kept her alive and thought to be facing danger was using her programmed behaviour for safety.

Tears sting behind the glass of Alex's lenses as for the second time in one day she is witness to Savannah fighting invisible demons. The always in control lawyer was powerless to make this better and the urge to cry was becoming near impossible to fight off any longer.

"Savannah, you can feel George right? There he is, all snuggled up in your arms. Yeah, George is here and so am I and… so I Alexandra The Great. Can you talk to us Savannah, tell us what's scaring you? We can help then, it is our job after all." Casey takes over, just one glace to the more experienced ADA was enough to let the strawberry blonde know Alex needed help.

Blue eyes shut with brimming tears and a growing feeling of guilt as Alex feels Savannah's hand still barely connected with her own begin to tug back and away completely from her grasp. Savannah was scared of her, that was something Alex's heart just couldn't bear. Not wanting to add to Savannah's fear reluctantly the larger, soft, delicate hand of the ADA releases it's already loose grip and prepares to pull away completely.

Casey catches on to the slow movement and shakes her head furiously from the opposite side of the bed. It is clearly caught by Alex's newly opened eyes as all movement on the taller woman's part stops and her fingers flex, just slightly once more to intertwine with Savannah's.

The very slight action brings Savannah's head down slightly so she can look at her hand still holding an IV in the back of it lovingly held by the larger counterpart of the beautiful blonde still beside her. For a moment the daze lifts from brown eyes and the little girl lets out a strangled breath in an attempt to calm herself once more.

"I… I touched Alex when I… I shouldn't have. I.. I spoke… out of… turn… I'm sorry." Savannah's now hiccupping voice squeaks out, shocking it's owner at the fact it had made any sound at all.

Alex's lungs let out an audible sigh of relief as she just delicately shakes her head in disagreement and leans towards the calming pre teen, just slightly.

"You didn't do anything wrong Savannah. You just told me you didn't want me to touch the bed and gently touched my wrist to get my attention. There is nothing wrong with that, I'm not angry, see?" Alex assures, her heartbeat now a backtrack within her ears as it was thudding so loudly.

Cautiously Savannah's shifts her gaze, just enough to get a glimpse of Alex's face and sees the bright, pearly white teeth of the elegant lawyer showing from her bright smile. It was over exaggerated but it let the trembling child know the older woman's words were indeed true, that and the fact her blue eyes were showing nothing but honesty.

Alex's long blonde hair bounces off of her shoulders slightly as she nods in confirmation sensing some of the tension trapped in Savannah's young body release once more. For a twenty four hour period this brave little brunette had truly been put through the ringer and her utter exhaustion was more than obvious at this point.

'Oh thank you Jesus that worked. I don't think I have stopped breathing for so long in one period before.' Casey mentally comments, her relief showing by the grin she is sporting in the direction of both Alex and Savannah.

Alex's softly strokes down Savannah's arm and manages to get a proper look into the child's eyes for a brief moment as the eleven year old fully comes back from her moment of terror. There is a silent conversation between the two, one that asks a thousand questions and is answered by the softest of nods coming from the little brunette.

Breathing out another sigh of relief, Alex tenderly strokes Savannah's cheek and feels a warmth overcome her as the eleven year old doesn't flinch at the interaction. Sure, Savannah was still shaking slightly and clearly unsettled by what had happened but the fact she was just willing to allow the concerned lawyer to look into her eyes and stroke her cheek was a massive sign and move in the right direction.

"Now, do you want me to get you something to eat before you try and sleep or would you rather just rest?" Alex asks, her concern for Savannah's lack of food stemming from a maternal instinct that if she was completely honest the long time lawyer at times had doubted she owned.

As rustling sound interrupts the question however as Casey is found to be hunched over in her seat by the hospital bed digging in to the plastic bag at her feet. She was looking for something specifically and after a few moments of both Savannah and Alex watching with intrigue, Casey re emerges from her journey and pulls out one pair of the PJ's she had purchased along with her. Sitting up straight once again and flashing a smile towards a now confused Savannah, Casey hands the package across the bed to a rather bewildered Alexandra Cabot.

"Oh don't give me that look Cabot, you heard Savannah she is tired and wants to sleep. That means it's time to get in to our PJ's. Don't pout either, you are not a fish." Casey mocking teases her co worker, only doing so because a bed and sick child was in between them but still.

Just like that all of the thankful gratitude Alex had been harbouring for the strawberry blonde is suddenly flipped into only partly serious frustration and slight confusion. With a flutter of her long, slightly wet eyelashes, the older of the two women looks down to the offered packet and raises a well sculpted eyebrow in return.

'She cannot be serious right now.' Alex's inner thoughts confidently state but are instantly dashed as the strawberry blonde counsellor retrieves another two packages containing matching garments, one placed gently on Savannah's lap and the other held in her left hand by her side, clearly meant for her.

The two lawyers once again face off in a silent game of 'chicken', going by the look locked in hazel orbs Casey was deadly serious about this and was challenging the more experienced attorney to test her. Normally this would be something Alex would jump at but considering the circumstances and the fact she was desperate for a clothing change, the 'Ice Queen' found her resolve starting to slip out of her grasp.

'She is one hundred and fifty percent serious. She is out of her mind completely.' Alex's mind decides silently, almost finding this entire situation comical but of course that was a fact she would be keeping hidden, for now at least.

"Wow, are… are those for me too?" Savannah quietly and cautiously asks, her hand hovering over the plastic parcel as her tired eyes inspect the pyjamas with a mix of awe and shock. For a day which had contained such horrors and upset it had also found a way of bringing such gifts and happiness.

That was the winning shot and Casey knows it. She smugly raises her own eyebrow towards Alex before bending down a little more to Savannah beside.

"They sure are Savannah. I know how awful those hospital gowns are and I thought you might be more comfortable in these. I picked them out because well, Toy Story is amazing right?" Casey explains, her enthusiasm bringing Alex Cabot's tight lips into a fond smile as she watches the scene unfold in front of her.

Savannah stares blankly at the clearly enthused lawyer, part of her almost nodding due to the fact she was sensing saying no would in some way be wrong. However, years of backlash from the smallest of white lies keeps the brunette honest and she just faintly shakes her head.

"I… I have… never seen it. I'm sorry." Savannah explains, quick to apologise as well and flinch fearing this information could bring its own form of punishment.

Casey inwardly cringes realising this was something she should have expected but what kid hadn't watch Toy Story? One who had been through the hell this beautiful little brunette had apparently. Thinking quickly the ADA grabs her phone from her bag and furiously scrolls and taps into the screen before revealing it's magic to a cautious eleven year old.

"Well, we have to change that. Here, you can start to watch it on my phone while me and Alex get ready into our PJ's and then if you want and only if you want we can help you get into yours as well. Does that sound good to you Savannah?" Casey suggests, her eyes not leaving Savannah as the fragile child becomes entranced by the images on the woman's phone.

Bright colours capture every bit of Savannah's attention as the jumping lamp appears on the phone's screen and hooks the eleven year old in one second. Pulling George a little closer to herself the brunette child cautiously observes Casey and once she is sure it is safe she tentatively takes hold of the phone into her possession and brings it up a little closer to her face.

"Okay Casey." Savannah whispers now far too lost in the magic of the opening segment of the children's classic Toy Story. All tiredness was for now replaced with intrigue and amazement and as she settles back into the pillows of her bed to get more comfortable a very bright smile can be seen located on her young face, something which in turn brings one to both Alex and Casey either side of her.

'Out of her mind but god damn it she has a heart that makes up for it.' Alex silently makes note as her blue eyes look down to the plastic covered pyjamas now in her grip and decides to give in for once and let what will be, be.

* * *

 _ **And another end of another chapter. Next up there is more bonding between the three lovely ladies and there is a MOMENT between the two ADA's also to look out for hehe.**_

 _ **As always thank you so much for reading this story and I truly hope that I have written something you enjoy. If you are kind enough to leave me a review then thank you in advance, I read every single one and take them on board more than you know when creating the next chapter.**_

 _ **Until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	9. Ain't No Party Like A PJ Party

_**To those of you who read this story, thank you so much. I hope I am creating something you enjoy and continue to do so.**_

 _ **For those of you who are also kind enough to take the time and leave me a review, well an even bigger thank you is needed. As I always saying, getting your feedback, wants, feelings, ideas and everything in between truly is priceless for me. It helps me with each chapter I write and hopefully helps me give you all what you will eventually enjoy and maybe even want more of.**_

 _ **Anyway, I don't think there is much more left to say so I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

" **Ain't No Party Like A PJ Party"**

A rather unsung blessing about having a private room in hospital was the fact that adjoining it was a private bathroom also. In this case that was coming in heavily handy considering, somehow Alexandra Cabot had found herself changing into a pair of pyjamas which were covered with characters from a child's animated movie.

'If only the squad and Liz of all people could see me now.' The tired inner voice of the long serving ADA comments as she does up the final button of her, very comfy PJ top. Casey apparently was able to tell someone's dress size on sight alone as the tall blonde finds herself accommodated snugly and precisely by her new clothing.

Stepping out of the adjoining bathroom, Alex's blue eyes glance towards the hospital bed where illuminated by the glow of Casey's phone, which was now on a needed charge, she can see Savannah's brown eyes wide with amazement at the film she was still completely enthralled by. Her eyelids were fighting off the need for sleep valiantly but it was becoming a losing battle for the little brunette whose head was even starting to dip every time tiredness delivered a sucker punch.

Allowing her gaze to drift slightly, Alex spots an already PJ clad Casey Novak setting up the unicorn nightlight she had previously mentioned and placing it on the moveable stand next to Savannah's bed. She had no idea that crystal blue eyes were watching her, watching the way she licks her lower lip when concentrating on something or the way her nose wrinkles when that concentration ends up in success.

'I could stand and just watch these two for hours.' Alex realises within the confines of her mind, not entirely sure where the thought had come from but it was most certainly there.

Happy with her placement of the unicorn nightlight which was blissfully cycling through the colours of the rainbow, the strawberry blonde attorney grins as Savannah turns the phone so Casey can also watch. The young brunette was giggling at something and it takes all of a second for Casey to join in and fill the private hospital room with that careless laughter which so sadly until now had been foreign in Savannah's life.

Uncrossing her arms from underneath her breasts and moving away from the door frame of the bathroom she had been casually leaning against, Alex ventures back towards the hospital bed and apparently the company of not one child but two.

"Right I am now PJ clad, will I do?" Alex asks with a wink as Casey looks over the phone to the tall, model worthy blonde and gives an approving nod of her head before looking down to Savannah and winking.

"Oh I don't know Alexandra, I think we are going to have to see at least a spin." Casey teases the slightly older woman, her smirk almost shining as brightly as her phone with how much pleasure this was providing her by winding the prim and proper Ms Cabot up.

'Oh she thinks I won't do it. Game on Ms Novak, game on.' Alex mentally rants, she had never been the type of girl to back down from a challenge and now was no different.

Narrowing sapphire eyes in on the fellow councillor, Alex makes a silent thank you to her mother for forcing her to take all those ballet lessons as a small child. Who knew this would be the situation they would come in handy?

"Very well. A spin is what you shall get." Alex proclaims confidently, her own lips up turned into a smile as she takes in a deep breath and brings her long arms into the proper position pointed in front of her flat stomach.

Casey raises an intrigued eyebrow at the fellow ADA's confidence and leans forward in her seat a little, hands clasped together with elbows resting on her pinned together knees as she watches. This should be good.

Alex straightens to her full height and then in full ballerina mode lifts both arms elegantly above her head before in one motion sweeping one leg out and up against the inner side of her now fully straight leg and does a complete spin around ten times in quick succession.

'And of course Savannah has my phone so I missed the chance to record this. Damn it.' Casey mischievously groans in regret before giving a very rousing round of applause towards a now curtsying Alexandra Cabot.

"Wow." Savannah gasps having been watching the entire thing, at first reluctantly because of not wanting to miss out on the movie but it had been more than worth it. Her little jaw was dropped a few inches and she cautiously copies Casey's movements in giving the beautiful prosecutor a round of applause for her performance.

Alex laughs whole heartedly and appreciatively at the applause as she regains her normal posture and just rolls up the sleeves of her PJ shirt to her elbows. Long blonde locks were now up in a loose bun ad glasses tucked away safely in their case. It felt good to be in something other than her skirt and blouse and beyond rejuvenating to have finally had a shower and brush her teeth.

"So, what do you think Savannah? Does Alex rock these PJ's as well as I do?" Casey questions with a raised eyebrow and hands pinching the collar of her PJ shirt either side and popping it dramatically and with unashamed cheese.

Doe brown eyes glance up from the bright phone screen again and Savannah wastes no time in nodding in complete assurance that the blonde attorney was also pulling off the 'Toy Story' pyjama look. Alex instantly sticks her tongue out towards Casey, shocking both herself and the strawberry blonde with such an action.

A silent moment passes in the quiet hospital room and with some strained breaths, Savannah's hand slowly lowers the phone and places it onto the table which leant across her bed. George was happily and safely still snuggled against the eleven year olds chin and shoulder and even moves as Savannah gulps nervously before shifting, carefully on the bed so she is more sat up right again.

"Can… can… can I… wear mine… now too… please?" Savannah bravely asks, the terror in her voice causing her to stutter but she gets the question out all the same and leaves both Alex and Casey beaming with pride at that fact.

Alex feels her heart flutter at the fact Savannah had asked for this of her own accord and can feel the pride swelling in her eyes knowing what bravery that must have taken for the little brunette. She quickly nods her head and moves closer to the bedside of the eleven year old.

"Of course you can. Now do you think you'll be okay on your own, brushing your teeth and getting changed or would you like me or Casey to help you?" Alex asks Savannah determined to give as much control as she can to this child who has been deprived of it for so long.

Knowing Savannah would need a little time to think over the question, Alex unhooks the side rail of the bed and lowers it so it would be a lot easier for the young girl to get out. Casey had already fetched the smaller package containing Savannah's pyjamas and was standing on the opposite side of the bed awaiting Savannah's answer.

"Um, I think I can try on my own but… would you both… stand outside the door… just encase and… and not shut it all the way, please?" Savannah answers tentatively but fairly sure of what she wanted to do in her own young mind at the same time.

Casey shuts her eyes for a prolonged second, the reasons for Savannah's precautions obvious and slicing through the strawberry blonde like a stinging paper cut. One thing was for sure though the Harvard graduate was completely blown away by this child's strength and was determined to help her in any way she possibly could.

"Of course we will. Now be careful and if you need us or you are in any pain you just have to make a noise and we will come in okay?" Alex assures the drained brunette who is holding her breath while dismounting the hospital bed and letting her little feet touch the floor.

Savannah's legs were weak and she stumbles a little as feeling herself trying to support her barely existent weight takes a few moments to become used to again. The pain her body was causing her from such simple movements was etched across every slight movement Savannah made but to her credit she was still refusing to let out any kind of audible sign.

"Okay, thank you Alex." Savannah replies through gritted teeth as she sucks in a deep breath and takes her first few steps forward. Her long, brown hair reached down to the small of her back but for the most part was half over her face. It wasn't a curtain like it had been for the rest of the day but clearly the eleven year old was still finding some comfort from being able to hide behind it to some extent.

The tall blonde prosecutor physically flinches with each, unsteady step the child takes and has to stop herself from just reaching out and scooping the injured girl up into her arms. Instead though Alex holds her breath and ghosts the short pre teen, hands ready to catch Savannah at any given moment if she should need it.

It takes a few minutes and some very slow steps but finally Savannah safely makes it to the adjoining bathroom and is given her supplies by Casey. A wash cloth, bar of soap, brand new toothbrush, bubble gum flavoured toothpaste, hair brush, still packaged new underwear and of course her 'Toy Story' PJ set.

"Just remember what Alex said though okay? Any pain or you need any help, you make a noise and we will come in and help." Casey instructs the heavy eyed brunette who had George hanging from her right hand as she makes her way into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her but only enough so she wouldn't be seen.

Now alone in the thankfully spacious private bathroom, the bright light illuminating everything clearly for the tired pre teen, Savannah sucks in a shaky breath. Weary, chocolate brown eyes scan the new environment, everything was clean and so bright in comparison to what she had been used to.

The door was still very much open and as long as Savannah could see the light coming from the hospital room and hear both ADA's outside the door she was somewhat okay to continue. Everything was hurting, from head to toe but this wasn't new for Savannah and in all honesty it was actually kind of nice to be able to stretch her legs.

Reaching the sink Savannah positions her things on the long ledge above it which was on the wall containing a large wall length mirror. The eleven year old had no interest in seeing her reflection but curiosity was a hard thing to fight for anyone especially someone so young.

'I haven't seen myself in so long. I wonder… if I have changed.' Savannah's inner voice curiously ponders what her exhausted eyes would find if they dared to actually take a glance at the shiny mirror in front of her.

Savannah mentally makes a choice and begins to lift her gaze, both hands gripping the sink with rigid fingers, the fluid IV having been removed for the night so it would be easier for her to sleep so she was actually relatively free to move her hands. Both wrists were tightly bandaged like so many points on her fragile body where Doctor Jennings had seen to her injuries and for someone so thin they felt a lot like weights to bare.

The sight of her own appearance deflates the already drained pre teen. Her naturally Olive skin was present but had faded to a far less vibrant colour. Her once chubby cheeks were now gaunt and drawn in and chocolate brown eyes once so full of hope and warmth were lost and so lonely. These weren't surprises for the eleven year old, not really but they were still a gut shot to actually see with her own eyes.

'I don't recognise myself. Who am I now? What is going to happen to me now?' The brunette's young mind questions the concerns and worries which had been circling inside her mind since the moment she was freed from her bed. The eleven year old knew this girl was indeed her, she knew every reason behind the reflected person's pain and every single scar and yet Savannah had no real idea who this person was and especially who she was going to become.

Savannah shakes her head free from her concerns and just blinks at the image of this broken girl in front of her. A warm tear slides its way down a trembling cheek as part of Savannah is released and part of her is found all at the same time.

'You can do this Savannah, you can do this.' Savannah reminds herself within her own thoughts as she fills up the sink with some warm water.

Feeling the warm water slip through her fingers and across her skin brings more tears to the brunette's eyes but she with holds them and just takes a moment to enjoy such a simple luxury, unsure when the next time she would be able to would occur.

Stood either side of the bathroom door, each looking like nervous awaiting first time parents, Alex and Casey go deadly silent so they can listen and make sure the eleven year old is okay. Both women had spent their fair time awaiting judgements on important and pivotal cases but never before had their hearts felt such responsibility and weight from not knowing what was happening.

"Can… can you talk please because… I… I know you're listening and… it's kind of creepy." Savannah calls out from the bathroom, perhaps for the first time sounding something similar to how an eleven year old child should.

Both ADA's jump at the request and release the breaths they had not been fully aware they had been with holding. Stroking a strand of long, blonde hair from her face Alex quickly leans a little closer against the white door of the bathroom and nods her head.

"Of course sweetie, sorry." Alex apologises softly, her hand just delicately making contact with the ajar door so not to move it and cause Savannah any upset.

The tall lawyer wanted to reach inside the bathroom, gather Savannah in her arms and In typical Alex Cabot fashion take over the situation completely. Of course that wasn't what the beautiful blonde was about to do but it was a real consideration within Alex's mind, for at least ten seconds or so.

Turning back around, Alex leans her shoulders against the cold white, hospital room wall and even through the material of her pyjama shirt, gets a slight chill against her silky smooth skin. The long time prosecutor's crystal blue eyes drift over the small gap between herself and Casey and pink lips open ready to speak but not a single word is able to come out.

The slightly younger of the two women has her hands behind her back, palms pushed down against the wall so she can bounce her butt off of the backside and rock back and forth. It was a child like move and came from nervous energy but it was something Casey did so often she never noticed when other people, adults especially, would give her a funny look. Much like the one Alex was currently throwing in her direction as she stands stoically still in comparison, both arms crossed in a suffocating tight grip under her chest.

"What? You know you should try something like this it might help with some of your pent up energy." Casey remarks pointedly before the sharp, sculpted eyebrow of her co-worker added to the rather judgemental glare being passed across the door way.

'I do not have pent up energy.' Alex's mentally retorts Casey's accusation with an audible scoff for good measure before becoming awkwardly aware of her hunched up stance and quickly unfolds her arms and snaps them down to her side instead.

Casey of course isn't subtle in the snigger which rises up in her raspy throat and despite a strong bite into her plump, ruby bottom lip echoes throughout the hospital room. In response to this, Alex's bright blue eyes go wide with offence but her high cheek bones start to show the signs of a blush rising on her creamy white skin.

"I'm sorry but it's just cute how you think you need to be all guarded, here and now of all times and places. We are both stood in 'Toy Story' pyjamas Alex, I don't think either of us would win any court motion right now." Casey jokes sweetly, her rocking back and forth stopping so she can connect hr gaze properly with the fellow attorney's and convey how they are both in the same situation.

'How does she keep doing that? It's like she has a cheat book to my mind that even I don't possess.' Alex inwardly rants as just glancing in to Casey's soft, hazel orbs her entire body relaxes against the wall she is still leaning against.

"So, let me ask you a question councillor. Why exactly did you buy three pairs of these pyjamas? I mean, as far as you were aware only myself and Savannah would be needing them, correct?" Alex asks in her straight forward court voice which reeked of confidence and of knowing something the other person didn't or should be afraid of.

'She wants to play lawyers, okay I can do this.' Casey inwardly accepts the challenge being presented to her and just tilts her head slightly to the side Alex was standing. A huge, mischievous, knowing grin spreads over her ruby lips and a hearty laugh echoes from her chest with confidence.

"I knew when I was picking them out that I would be joining you both tonight. Grated I thought I would be in the waiting room on some of those horribly uncomfortable chairs but still. I wasn't about to camp out in my skirt, blouse and blazer. I have made that mistake once too many times in my life." Casey reveals honestly, her tone light hearted and yet underplayed with a conviction which for a second steals all air from Alex's lungs.

The look of shock at the straightforward explanation that washes across the more experienced ADA's face is priceless and is just another moment Casey inwardly wishes she had caught on film. Alex feels her lips twitch as if wanting to say something but the beautiful blonde is left unable to do much more than just stare.

"Well, also there was no way I was going to get yourself and Savannah these without purchasing a pair for myself because they are amazing." Casey adds with such enthusiasm for her words that instantly Alex breaks out into a laugh and hangs her head back as she continues to chuckle.

'This has to be a side effect from the sleep deprivation, surely.' Alex's inner voice desperately attempts to think up an excuse for the fact she is now giggling like some giddy school girl. What was it about Casey that just completely changed the way the experienced lawyer behaved?

Casey's hazel eyes watch Alex let go and laugh with joy. It was refreshing to witness the supposed 'Ice Queen' just let it out instead of withholding or trying to suppress it in some manner. With a shrug of her shoulders she captures Alex's attention again and the pair lock eyes once more from either side of the door way.

Alex feels her heart tighten as the younger lawyer's eyes seep into her own, the familiar sensation they had each experienced within the bathroom earlier that day starting to overcome them once more. It was almost like a fog, lingering on the top of the surface and slowly, creeping its way up their bodies until they were helpless but to react.

Still unable to speak, Alex's eyebrow rises in question of what was so obviously playing on Casey's mind and laying on the very tip of her velvet smooth tongue.

"You should laugh more often, it really suits you." Casey reveals with a glimmer sparkling behind her hazel orbs which were starting to change colour to more of a green the thicker the rising fog was becoming around the two lawyers.

Alex's skin could not hold out this time and a girlish blush quickly sweeps over her face causing great embarrassment to the 'Ice Queen' of the DA's office. She instantly turns away from the slightly shorter woman, her eyes closing as her hands reach up to try and cover up the now pink tinted high cheek bones which were warm to the touch.

'Now you're blushing like the first time you heard the word 'Vagina'. Get it together Alexandra, you are only making yourself look foolish in front of this intelligent, gorgeous woman.' Alex's mind berates its owner, all of her surroundings for a moment becoming irrelevant to the tired lawyer as she curls into herself against the wall.

Suddenly there is a warm, tender touch to Alex's cheek which causes the tall blonde to jump slightly in place and brushes away Alex's delicate hands she was using as a human shield. Apparently in the space of three seconds Casey's toned legs had closed the gap between the two lawyers and her hand had found a way to gain access to the more experienced ADA's cheek. With silent instruction, Casey's ivory skinned hand lifts Alex's head and forces sapphire eyes to once again connect with her hazel counterparts.

The two women were barely inches apart, their breathing gentle and tickling the other person's skin because of the close proximity. Casey's strawberry blonde hair, which was still over flowing down over her shoulders, softly curtains around both herself and Alex as her feather like fingertips stroke the pink tinted area of skin on the taller woman's cheeks.

"It suits you when you blush too." Casey mutters, her cushion like lips barely moving to allow the words to leave as hazel eyes drift down to examine the tightly pursed pink counterparts belonging to Alex.

"You know you are skating on very thin ice of being overruled here Casey?" Alex retorts, her own gaze now leaving the warm orbs of the slightly shorter woman and fixating on her previously tasted lips.

"I guess you'll have to hold me in what.. contempt of court?" Casey's raspy voice counters, the small distance between the two lawyers decreasing with each hurried heartbeat and lustful gaze.

Unable to resist the thick fog which by now was at their necks, Alex's glasses free eyes shut and her hand snakes up into the long, strawberry blonde locks of the fellow attorney before sealing the gap with a hard pressed kiss to ruby lips.

There is an audible gasp from Casey but no resistance, in fact the complete opposite. A strong arm wraps completely around the thin waist of Alexandra Cabot and pushes their pelvis' into grinding contact. There is a warm heat rising from the pit of each lawyer's stomach and spreading across their skin like wild fire as tongues become added to the kiss.

The blinding fog was now clouding their minds and mixed with lust, arousal and pure need as Alex's finger nails grip the long locks of the shorter woman and pull hard enough to force Casey to reveal more of her ivory skinned neck. A hiss passes the strawberry blonde's now bruised lips as Alex's sharp teeth bite on her pulse point before soothing it down with a, flat, wet lick of her tongue.

In response to the attack on her neck Casey pushes harder into Alex and slips her PJ clad knee directly in between the other woman's, long legs. A grin skims her ruby lips as Alex's mouth drops open in shock at the pressure now placed at her most intimate place but apparently the younger ADA had completely stolen the blonde's ability to make a sound.

"Alex, Casey… you've gone quiet. Are you still… still there?" Savannah's scared voice slices through the fog like a warning fog horn meant for the ships and brings both prosecutors smack back in to reality.

The blood rush from Alex's brain to in between her legs from the still present, firm knee pressed against it means all the lawyer can manage in response is a dry squeak. Her hands were still tangled within strawberry blonde locks and she probably yanks an extension worth from Casey's scalp as the two forcefully jump apart.

Casey folds over with a snap in her hips in pain, her hands reaching for the now likely bald spot on the side of her head. It takes all of her restraint to not scream in profanity but her hazel eyes convey the message to Alex all the same with a sharp glare of betrayal.

Shaking her head in dismissal of Casey over the top dramatics, the blonde attorney catches her breath and plucks some of the other woman's loose hairs from her fingers as she focuses back on to the bathroom door.

"We're here honey, sorry. Is… Is everything okay?" Alex calls back to the frightened sounding eleven year old as Casey continues to rub her injured head.

'I actually did get her good. I'm sure she'll get me back though at some point.' Alex mentally comments, her mind still partly wrapped up in the emotions and strong rushes coursing through her body after that hot interaction with one Ms Novak.

The tall, elegant blonde leans against the thankfully cool wall of the hospital room for support, her knees having been weakened by the very precisely placed knee mere seconds ago. Alex wipes her thumb underneath her slightly swollen lips and gathers just a tiny bit of moisture the two lawyer's mouths had created and feels a different kind of moisture collect in a very different place.

Shaking her head of those thoughts and straightening her posture, Alex breathes out one long breath and has to force her eyes to look away from the alluring, all be it now hunched over in pain Casey Novak. Alex silently prays the hot sensation she was experiencing throughout her body was not showing on her rather pale completion like some kind of neon sign as to what the two women had just been up to.

"Still here Savannah. Alexandra the great was just letting off some steam." Casey quickly interjects, her still green burning eyes making a pointed to look to the still breathless ADA now separated from her by the door way.

'Oh she is planning on getting me back big time for that bite and especially the hair pull.' Alex's mind takes note, an odd sensation of excitement at the thought fluttering in her stomach.

There is a loud breath of relief from the bathroom as the door is pulled open a little wider and a tiny but fresh looking Savannah reappears. In her right had she still had George and in her left was the hospital gown and paper hospital underwear they had given her after her examination. Her little head was down but not completely bowed and seeing her in her 'Toy Story' pyjamas was a much better sight to behold than anything previous.

'At least now she looks somewhat like a little girl and not some forgotten about doll.' Alex mentally comments, her heart racing still in her chest but being the 'Ice Queen' she was finding it easier than Casey was to tame it back down to normal.

"I wasn't sure what to… to do with these." Savannah explains holding up her previous outfit weakly, she was truly struggling now with energy reserves.

Casey quickly shakes her head and takes a step forward, her hand gently relieving Savannah of the clothing. The strawberry blonde smiles at the still unsure pre teen and very cautiously reaches out her free hand to rest on Savannah's shoulder.

"Don't you worry, I will sort those out. Do the PJ's fit okay, they're comfortable?" The less experienced lawyer asks the young brunette who had tensed at the woman's touch but not flinched or completely repealed it either.

Savannah quickly nods, her head lifting just enough so her brown eyes, which were now basically half closed, look in Casey's direction. With a dry gulp and quick mental word of encouragement to herself, the eleven year old gives a small smile.

"They're… brilliant. Thank you… thank you Casey." Savannah appreciatively replies, her words so soft and quiet and yet they ring in Casey's ears like triumphant bells.

'DO NOT CRY CASEY!' Casey's inner voice mimics the tone of Casey's mother in order to prevent the prosecutor from blubbering snot bubbles at this poor young girl.

"You are more than welcome sweetheart. Now, why don't you and Alex go back over to that warm, comfortable bed while I get rid of these?" Casey suggests her head motioning to the discarded hospital gown and paper underwear in her hand which was not just resting like a feather on Savannah's shoulder.

Alex feels her blue eyes glaze over yet again today as she watches the sweet interaction between her co worker and this young girl who had clearly stole both of their hearts. With a nod of agreement to Casey's suggestion the more experienced attorney takes a step forward and offers her delicate hand for Savannah to take for assistance over to the bed. After getting herself changed, Savannah wasn't looking like she had enough energy to make it across the room again unassisted.

Casey's hazel orbs linger on Alex and Savannah for a few extra seconds once the pair head back to the bed, a contented smile crosses her tingling lips and for a moment the absurdity of this situation just disappears from all conscious thought. The strawberry blonde turns back into the bathroom and disposes of the clothing, her eyes watering as she notices the very faint left behind stains of blood on the material.

Unlike Alex, Casey was yet to actually see the injuries this poor child had suffered but it wasn't hard to imagine from Doctor Jennings description and the always confident Ms Cabot's reaction to them to know they were soul destroying.

'Things are going to get better now Savannah, somehow and some way me and Alex will make sure of it.' Casey mentally makes a sincere promise to this traumatized child as she leans against the sink and splashes a few drops of cold water over her overheated face.

How and why this unstoppable connection and force was continuing to draw the two DA attorneys together was unknown but Casey had the strongest sense in her very being that it wasn't about to go away any time soon. Of course the fact their first kisses had been on the bathroom floor and outside of a bathroom wasn't going to be the most romantic of starts to whatever this sensation may end up becoming, it would sure as hell end up being a unique one.

Very aware she was now sounding like a crush riddled teen, Casey is quick to straighten back down her hair. The amount she lost thankfully not noticeable with the right positioning of a few locks. As her hazel eyes check the damage to her hair the now red mark located on her neck, directly over her pulse point comes in to view and just like that the younger ADA is fighting off another wave of arousal.

'Damn you Alex. This is not the place for me to be getting so… turned on. Jesus, right I need to focus and stop letting more hormones rule me like when I was sixteen.' Casey mentally instructs herself as she splashes a final few drops of cold water against her over heated cheeks and takes a calming breath before exiting the adjoining bathroom.

By now Savannah was back in the hospital bed which seemed to almost swallow her whole. Alex was hovering slightly, puffing pillows and bringing up blankets over the young girl's body just desperate to try and give this girl some form for comfort for once.

"Are you sure you are comfortable Savannah, how about another few sips of water?" Alex suggests, her worry for this child obvious and honest as her sapphire eyes watch over Savannah for the slightest sign of her discomfort or pain.

Long, brown locks were fanned out underneath Savannah's head now she was repositioned in the bed, the blankets wrapped secure around her body and up to her shoulders. Her heavy eyelids only barely able to keep open long enough to prove she is indeed still awake. She was hanging on to consciousness by a thread.

"I think she's fine Alex. You have made her as snug as a bug in a rug, right honey?" Casey comments, her head motioning to Savannah who gives the faintest of nods in response as speaking at this point was not going to happen.

Knowing that her co worker was right, Alex reluctantly pulls back from her fussing and in not knowing what else to do with her hands just slides them down her outer thighs with a gulp.

"Sure, I'm sorry I just like to make sure." Alex replies, her breath still hitched but now purely from concern from the eleven year old and not at all to do with her strawberry blonde temptress.

Casey smiles warmly as she edges closer to the slightly taller lawyer and gently slips her own hand into Alex's grasp and squeezes. The tender gesture brings crystal eyes up to meet the warm reassuring counterparts belonging to Casey who gives a very soft nod of encouragement as well.

'She's right, I just need to let this poor girl finally sleep and rest.' Alex interprets Casey's message within the confines of her own frazzled brain before delicately stroking a few hairs out of Savannah's relaxed face.

"Goodnight Savannah." Alex breathes out slowly, the nudge from Casey exactly what she needed to hear and to feel as the slightly shorter attorney once more squeezes the blonde's hand.

A comfortable silence overcomes the room and the two adults in it as Savannah slips easily and quickly in to the lands of dreams. It was probably pure exhaustion that had meant the young brunette was so easy to drift off but in that case it was welcome exhaustion because god knows Savannah needed to finally get a proper sleep and rest.

Neither Alex or Casey make any attempt to move from the bedside where they are stood, hand in hand just watching over this sleeping eleven year old as though she was a china doll in danger of breaking at the slightest breeze. In the oddest of ways it was almost therapeutic, just over seeing Savannah as her little chest softly rises and sinks with each deeper and deeper breath she takes. Her face was expressionless, not happy but also not in pain and considering everything that had been learnt about the brunette's life it was safe to say that this was a huge win for the young girl.

George the monkey was poking his head out, just slightly from beneath the blankets. His head snuggled against Savannah's cheek like a guard ready to fight off any harm that may come this beautiful girls way. Although just a cuddly toy, for Savannah it was clear George was already so much more and most of all would be adored for a very long time to come and in return would provide the eleven year old with some of her much deserved comfort from such a cruel and unforgiving world.

"You do know it's Alexander the great right?" Alex questions her slightly younger companion, a smugness in her quiet words causing Casey to almost let out a hearty laugh.

"I am aware, yes. However, you are Alexandra and… you're pretty great. Well, you know I'm sure Savannah seems to think so anyway." Casey counters, quickly correcting herself before it seemed she was giving the compliment solely of her own thoughts and feelings.

Turning to the slightly shorter woman beside her, Alex bites back her own laugh and finds her stomach flip just looking into Casey's hazel eyes. No one in her life before had caused these reactions in the tall blonde before. Even as a teenager Alex hadn't known the sensation of a crush more than finding her English teacher in high school crept into her dreams far too often. Now here she is feeling her heart flutter from a simple gaze and chest tighten at their close proximity, what was happening to her?

"You've made your own impression on her yourself. You know Olivia tried to touch her leg earlier because she was upset and Savannah just… she lost it. A bit like earlier when she thought she'd done something wrong by telling me not to move the bed and touched my hand?" Alex reveals, her blue eyes soft like a fluffy snow as the connection with this other lawyer's eyes open parts of the 'Ice Queen' normally she didn't dare to delve in herself.

Casey slowly nods her head as she absentmindedly runs her finger across the back of Alex's thumb bone. They were still stood in matching pyjamas, hands connected and watching over a sleeping child like they were the secret service, the room only illuminated by the changing colours of the unicorn nightlight. To say the entire situation was bizarre would be a hell of an understatement and yet it was, for them working. What was being created in these absurd moments, whirlwind emotions and devastating revelations involving a previously unknown child? None of them had any idea but there was no stopping it, whatever it was.

'Why do I have this urge to just tell her everything? I wish I understood these feelings, I certainly wish I could control them. Fuck me.' Alex mentally makes note as Casey just patiently awaits the next words that leave the more experienced ADA's lips.

"With you though, she has opened up so freely. It's actually been fascinating to witness, seeing that precious little girl smile and hearing her laugh. You did that and I can tell you have no idea just how special that is or… you are." Alex continues softly, her tired eyes for a moment closing as with her free hand she rubs at her forehead.

It had been a long, long day, well two for the long time prosecutor and now Savannah was finally asleep, Alex felt as though she could let some of her walls fall. It's a soft squeeze by Casey's hand that brings crystal blue eyes back into view and when they do they find warm hazel orbs glimmering with the changing colours in the room.

"You definitely have a way about you Casey and it's a good thing to have. I have been accused in my life of struggling to connect with people. Not letting people in, refusing help and of course being an 'Ice Queen'." Alex chuckles softly at the final statement, it had been her 'nickname' for years now and for the longest time the elegant lawyer had been almost proud of it but now, something about it was almost painful for Alex.

Casey again nods her head and keeps silent, this was something that Alex needed to get off of her chest and the last thing the strawberry blonde was about to do was interrupt. Instead she keeps their eye contact strong and touch of their hands soft yet secure. There was a growing urge within the younger prosecutor to find out as much as possible about Alex, to truly get to know her but most of all it was an urge to connect with the beautiful blonde.

"Well, everyone has their reasons for keeping their cards close to their chest. Everyone has reasons for everything they do and everything they don't do. We do what we have to in order to survive through certain situations and circumstances. Just because we act one way in one situation, with one person doesn't mean we will or should with another." Casey responds quietly, her plump lips pursing together as he finishes speaking slightly unsure if what she had said had even made sense.

For once Alex is unsure how to respond, her mind is too busy absorbing the words of her fellow attorney and applying them to her own previous situations and actions. Instead of verbally saying anything the taller woman just squeezes Casey's hand and nods her head as her gaze once again returns to watch over a sleeping Savannah.

Smiling to herself at the fact she had somehow managed to stump the more experienced lawyer, Casey just nods her head and looks back to Savannah also. They should probably move, sort out where they would sit and how they would try and attempt to sleep themselves but instead the comfortable silence just drapes over the two women and they remain rooted, connected by their hands but apparently so much more also.

"Thank you Casey." Alex suddenly whispers out, her eyes not leaving Savannah as she speaks but her hand does faintly squeeze back against the one she'd been holding now for almost twenty minutes.

Casey frowns at the gratitude from the tall blonde and turns her head in a questioning manner as to just what Alex was thanking her for. Her expression of confusion was something that Alex could see from the corner of her eye and almost brings a smirk to her lips but somehow she manages to refrain from doing so.

"Thank you for today. Thank you for letting me break down and soil your shirt. Thank you for being like a superhero with the pyjamas and especially George. Thank you for… for…" The more experienced ADA's words trail off as her sleep deprived brain struggles to find the right words to communicate everything her heart was currently feeling.

It was safe to say that Casey Novak had entered Alex's life when she was most needed but also she had swept through like a tornado and knocked everything the blonde had spent years neatly putting into place, completely out of sync. The circumstances of this entire situation were absurd, laughable and damn right unbelievable and yet at the same time the successful lawyer had never been involved in a situation that felt more natural, right or real in her life. There was a pull to the strawberry blonde ADA, an allure, an almost need for her presence that Alex was struggling to not only combat but struggling to even want to combat.

"It's crazy to think she has no idea that she's had more of an effect on us then we ever could on her." The younger woman proclaims, her voice lingering with emotion and gratitude. Normally she wouldn't have dared interrupt Alex's thought process but in this moment the words had left Casey's ruby lips before she'd even realised it.

"Thank you for… for being right here with me, right now." Alex finishes, the words finally finding their escape as the long time lawyer's mind gives up on over thinking and just says what she is feeling.

"Honestly, I cannot think of anywhere else I'd rather be." Casey answers sincerely, her words straight forward and precise as she looks to the sleeping girl in that large hospital bed in front of them both who in one day had captured parts of both Alex and Casey neither knew they were desperate to give.

* * *

 _ **I am thinking about making chapters from now on twice as long. This will mean less frequent updates but more will happen in each one. Maybe this is something you all would prefer? Let me know what you think if you are so kind.**_

 _ **To those of you who leave a review, if any do, thank you so much. I always looks so forward to your feedback and take everything said on board as I go forward in creating each chapter. You are truly all so lovely and I appreciate each and every one I receive so, thank you.**_

 _ **U**_ _ **ntil next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	10. Promises, Promises

_**I wasn't sure if I should update or not to be honest but I started writing this chapter and I liked where it was headed so I thought I'd give it another go haha.**_

 _ **Just to let any of you Calex fans know who may not know I also have a second Calex story up which is a one shot format and already has the first chapter up. That chapter is rated M so some may not have seen it but may want to.**_

 _ **For now though I think that is enough of me so I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

" **Promises, Promises"**

A huge downside to a camp out in a private hospital room, apart from the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, is the fact at six am, dead on, you are woken up by a nurse doing her morning observations of the patient. For both Alex and Casey, the nurse who is assigned to take Savannah's observations is both heavy footed and apparently attempting to wake up the entire hospital in one go.

"Wow, okay is there any need for the damn symbols you are crashing together?" Casey growls with still closed eyes. The strawberry blonde had never been a morning person and when she was rudely broken from the land of dreams, biting her tongue was next to impossible.

"I'm here to do Miss Bruno's observations. You and…" The scowling nurse, likely in her mid sixties and showing everyday of her life span in her face hisses before trailing off as she turns her poisonous glare to Alex.

Alex had spent the night sat sideways in the large, supposedly comfy chair beside Savannah's bed. Her long legs were folded over the arm of the chair and arms securely crossed over her chest. Casey had insisted that the more experienced ADA took the seat and had waited until Alex fell into a deep sleep before draping her coat over Alex for a blanket.

It must be the fact she now has cold, grey eyes burning into her but Alex's eyes begin to flutter as she also is woken from her sleep. Frowning at the added weight of Casey's coat over her body the blonde begins to stretch out a little from her rather curled position in the chair.

"Well, I don't know your names and I have no interest in learning them either. The fact is however you shouldn't even be here. This won't be happening again I can assure you." The nurse continues, her horse voice reminiscent of a cement mixer churning gravel and causes Alex to become aware of this new guest in the room.

Having heard the pointed remark about herself and Casey staying overnight, Alex's eyebrow rises slightly while her lips turn into an unpleased pout. The long time prosecutor knew a snotty, wasp of a woman when she saw one, her mother had been one.

'Oh this should be funny. God, I hope Alex rips her trachea clean from her throat. Okay, maybe I need coffee or something.' Casey mentally assess her quick thirst for homicidal retaliation at this nurse while watching this scene unfold in front of her.

"Excuse you?" Alex responds dryly, her courtroom demeanour pouring from her like a beacon of light as she turns herself around properly in the chair but quickly re crosses her arms over her chest and fixes an icy glare on this nurse.

Apparently un phased by the short tone to the blonde woman's voice, the weathered nurse suddenly flashes a venomous smile. It was a trick a young Alexandra Cabot had learnt to become weary off since she was around three and it meant this nurse wasn't going to be backing down.

"I think you'll find it is yourself and the hibernating hedgehog who need to be excused. This is a hospital not some kind of camp. You are both impeding my ability to care for my patient properly." The nurse snipes back, her tongue clearly as sharp as her stony, gaunt features.

There is a sudden flash of red which rises up on Alex's high cheekbones and Casey instantly scrambles up from her position on the floor. She had been lying with the plastic bag of supplies she got for Savannah and Alex the night before as a make shift pillow on the same side of the bed where the chair Alex was sleeping in was located.

"I will have you know that Doctor Jennings said this arrangement was fine. Also, you have complete access to Savannah, so our supposed impeding of you giving your care is a stretch to say the least." Alex bitterly retorts as she rises from the seat and goes to venture a little closer to this rude woman.

Turning to the nurse who was on the other side of the bed and unravelling the blood pressure cuff, the less experienced ADA gives a fake smile. Normally playing nice was something Casey could at least fake well enough to avoid fights but this woman had well and truly pissed her off.

"Okay, I think we should leave this conversation where it is." Casey coolly comments, her words directed solely at the beautiful blonde lawyer she was standing in front of, who now looked as though she was trying to force this nurse's head to explode.

Deciding to tune the two attorney's out completely, the nurse turns up her nose at them before looking down at Savannah who somehow was still blissfully drifting away in her dreams. Reaching to find the young brunette's arm in order to apply the cuff, the nurse brings Savannah's peace to a grinding halt.

"NO DON'T PLEASE!" Savannah screams at the top of her lungs, full panic and fear present instantly. The poor thing had barely been able to open her eyes or recognise the situation or her surroundings before she automatically begged for some kind of leniency.

The sound of such terror rips through both Alex and Casey as they jump forward and into action in attempting to soothe Savannah back down.

"Savannah, it's okay. Me and Alex are still here. This… nurse here is just going to take your blood pressure. Do you remember some of the nurses doing it yesterday?" Casey rapidly attempts to explain what was happening.

The younger lawyer was standing at the bedside now, one hand gripping the rail and the other beginning to reach out to touch Savannah but hesitating at the last second. The last thing the strawberry blonde wanted to do was upset Savannah anymore so she was hesitant to actually make any physical contact.

Tears were already sliding down the young brunette's uncovered cheeks and her breath was clearly caught in her throat from the shock of how she had just been woken up. Hearing the kind and familiar voice of Casey though, Savannah snaps her head to that side of the bed as she struggles to regain control of her breathing. She was terrified to the point she couldn't catch her breath and was likely now having some kind of a panic attack.

"Savannah, you are safe. Me and Casey are here just like we were last night. You're in hospital but everything is okay, you are safe." Alex adds, her head appearing just above Casey's shoulder as she joins her co-workers side and gives her best smile to the frightened pre teen.

Nodding her head in recognition of both women, Savannah sucks in some shaky breaths while continuing to keep her chocolate brown eyes fixed on both lawyers at her bedside. Casey's trepidation about making contact is lost however as she looks down when a warm, little hand is placed on top of hers and squeezes firmly.

'She grabbed my hand on her own.' Casey's mind realises in shock, the strongest feeling of pride swelling inside her knowing just how significant of a moment this was.

"It's okay Savvy, you just look at me and take some deep breaths. In…. and…. Out. Just follow me okay?" Casey instructs the petrified brunette whose hand she had fully taken into the protective grip of her own and given a return squeeze to.

Knowing Casey had things covered with Savannah, Alex's attention fixates solely onto the nurse on the other side of the room. It took a lot for Ms Cabot to become truly angry at someone but this nurse had managed it in less than five minutes and to top it off she had upset and distressed Savannah, that wasn't about to be swept under the carpet or let go.

"I think you should leave." Alex informs the stunned and slightly regretful looking nurse who had already jumped back a few feet from Savannah's scream alone.

For a split second Casey's eyes flicker to the slightly taller woman beside her and in an attempt to simmer Alex's temper back down, the strawberry blonde takes her free hand and grips on to Alex's thin wrist. It was supposed to be a way of bringing the rightfully angry attorney back to her senses and perhaps even an attempt to stop Alex from following the nurse and following through with causing her head to explode.

Watching with a steely glare from across the bed, Alex's jaw clenches in frustration at this woman and her overall attitude. As Casey's hand wraps softly yet firmly around her wrist, the blonde feels as though the steam of her anger pass through her nose with a deep sigh. The anchoring grip of the stunning woman beside her is enough however for Alex's mind to clear of her anger and focus on the fact Savannah was still struggling to catch her breath and needed her full attention.

"That's right Savannah, just like Casey said. Deep breaths, in and out. That's it, you're doing great honey." Alex encourages the still trembling brunette in the hospital bed before giving the slightly shorter woman beside her a thankful smile and nod of her head.

Nearly an hour passes and another nurse has been in to do the observations and bring Savannah her breakfast. They also got the small eleven year old hooked back up with the fluid IV after Alex had helped Savannah get herself into the clothes Casey had bought for the pre teen the night before.

"I'm sorry… that I got so… so scared before with the… other nurse." Savannah whispers her apology for her behaviour to Alex once the tall blonde has helped her back into the bed after getting changed.

Alex was folding up the pyjama's Savannah had worn the night before and looks at the little brunette with a soft smile. The long, brown locks of the eleven year old were still partly covering her face but today you could see more of her beautiful face and for Alex that was a win.

"You don't have to be sorry Savannah. You were scared and understandably so. What matters right now is that you are feeling okay?" Alex retorts softly, it was a question that needed to be asked but the lawyer in her knew Savannah was going to be reluctant to answer completely honestly.

As expected Savannah's reaction is to bow her head a little and tense every muscle in her small body. Her shoulders shrug as she attempts to give a nod of 'yes' as an answer but didn't dare try and make eye contact with the experienced ADA from fear she would be able to tell she was being dishonest. Kids catch on fast.

Sighing just slightly at the pre teens reaction Alex places the PJ's back into the plastic wrapping they had come in for safe keeping and takes the seat she'd spent the night bent up and somehow sleeping in. Delicately the long haired blonde reaches over the railing of the hospital bed and strokes a few, tiny strands of dark hair behind Savannah's ear.

"Savannah, it is okay if you aren't okay. In fact me, Casey, the doctors and nurses we would much prefer it if you were honest about how you are feeling. You are here to get better, to feel better and to heal and we can't make sure that happens if you are telling us you are fine when really you aren't. So, do you want to maybe have a little re think for me?" Alex tentatively tries again, her lips upturning into a smile when Savannah turns to face her a little more and gives a very faint nod of her head.

The conversation is cut short as Casey comes barrelling in through the door, both hands holding a large coffee cup but this wasn't the kind from a vending machine or anywhere in the hospital. It looked as though it came from a coffee shop, which meant only one thing. Clad still in her 'Toy Story' PJ's, as herself and Alex were yet to change, the strawberry blonde had gone on a journey seeking coffee that didn't taste like ass.

"I wasn't sure what you would want so I just got as much caffeine as they would legally serve me without either of us going into some kind of heart palpitation arrhythmia as a side effect." Casey reveals as she passes the tall cup over to her blonde counterpart with no recognition to the smirk and frown currently spread across Alex's face.

Taking the piping hot beverage eagerly and gratefully, Alex's lips are quick to make a seal around the plastic lid as she takes a deep sip. It burns her tongue and is so strong her lungs almost throw out a cough but the more experienced councillor goes back for another, larger gulp all the same.

"Hey Savvy, you're looking very refreshed. Did the clothes fit okay?" Casey questions Savannah after taking her own sip of needed energy as she stands at the foot of the bed and leans her forearms over the plastic foot rest with a bright smile.

"Yes thank you. They're… they're really comfortable." Savannah answers, her own smile forming on her face at the realisation the first time Casey had referred to her as 'Savvy' earlier had not been a simple slip of the tongue. Apparently this was some form of a nickname that the slightly shorter woman had come up with for her and for Savannah that was just mind blowing.

Still looking the fellow lawyer up and down in slight disbelief at the conclusion her mind was coming to over Casey's actions, Alex crosses one leg over the other and relaxes back into the seat a little.

"So, are we just going to skim over the fact you went out of the hospital dressed like that? And wait a minute without a damn coat? Casey, it's freezing out there, are you trying to get a stay in hospital for yourself or something?" Alex chastises the strawberry blonde with genuine concern for the other woman's health as she realises Casey's lack of weather appropriate clothing.

Savannah's big, brown eyes go wide at the sound of this grown woman getting told off by her blonde co worker and watches in high amusement and intrigue as to just how Casey was going to respond. For the eleven year old brunette, this was all the entertainment she needed.

Looking down at herself, toy story pyjamas being presented proudly as they lay on her curvaceous figure, Casey just smirks. Hazel orbs slowly lift and the slightly less experienced ADA just gives a shrug of her shoulders like a disobedient teenager.

"Well of course we can discuss it Alex. I'm just not sure what there is to talk about all things considered. I mean I went out, got you and myself some much needed coffee and looked damn good doing so. What exactly is the problem?" Casey playfully retorts, punctuating her words with a wink as she brings her coffee up to her lips for another needed sip.

A silent beat passes through the room as Savannah's eyes ping pong back and forth between the two attorneys as though watching a tennis match. Sapphire blue eyes belonging to the more experienced of the two prosecutors narrow in on a carefree strawberry blonde before her delicate hand rubs at her suddenly headache forming forehead in defeat.

'It is far too early and I have not received the appropriate levels of caffeine or sleep to take this discussion any further. I won't be letting it drop though, oh no.' Alex's mind warns Casey silently as the younger lawyer turns her attention to Savannah and in return earns a smile from the little brunette.

"So, you never got to tell me last night but what did you think of Toy Story?" Casey questions Savannah sweetly, her upper body still leaning over the end of the bed like it was a back yard fence and she was chatting to a neighbour.

Savannah's small lips were still flirting with a smirk at the interaction between Alex and Casey but she does her best to focus on the asked question and not smouldering atmosphere between the two adults.

"I thought it was … the best thing I have… ever seen." Savannah answers honestly, the joy in her voice obvious and causing both Casey's and Alex's minds to forget about anything and all else currently going on.

Nodding strongly in approval of the eleven year olds conclusion Casey gleefully leans a little more over the foot rest of the bed and wiggles her index finger as if to inform Savannah in on a secret,. Of course it doesn't take much for the intrigued child to lean forward eagerly and patiently wait to be told this top secret information.

"Well you are in for a treat Savvy because there are two other 'Toy Story' films for you to watch and fall in love with." Casey excitedly informs the brunette whose eyes grow wide with amazement at this fact and lips break into a bright smile.

Alex watches from her place beside Savannah's bed with a warm smile across her still tired features. Witnessing this young girl actually react with some form of excitement and happiness was a rush that the blonde councillor knew she would never grow tired of. It wasn't lost on Alex that she owed this great pleasure to her younger co worker either and her thankfulness for the strawberry blonde only continues to grow more by the second.

"So do you think if I go and grab myself a shower and change of clothes you two will be okay for a few minutes? I won't be long and I'll only go if it's something you feel comfortable with Savannah so please don't feel you have to agree if you don't feel happy about it." Alex suggests cautiously, her mind still very aware of the fact she needed to present everything as something the traumatized child had control over in the long run.

By now Casey has already flown down to the headrest end of the bed and was tapping into her phone to bring up the sequel to Pixar's original masterpiece for Savannah to enjoy. Alex's question brings the eleven year olds attention momentarily from the phone screen though and it's clear Savannah is mentally weighing up the situation.

Small hands wrap around George's body as Savannah draws her cuddly monkey in a little closer to her chest and through a much lighter curtain of her long, dark locks, chocolate brown eyes look to Casey for some kind of reassurance. Recognising the signal as quickly as it is given, the strawberry blonde prosecutor nods her head and gives a playful wink towards the clearly apprehensive pre teen in return. Savannah was understandably in need of some kind of silent promise she wouldn't be left completely alone and that Casey would be staying with her. For once it was something the younger lawyer could promise with absolute truth and certainty, she would be going absolutely nowhere.

'Casey is going to be with you, like last night when Alex changed in to her PJ's. It will be okay.' Savannah's inner voice encourages the nervous eleven year old and after brief moment and realising the younger woman would be staying with her, Savannah slowly nods her head in agreement to Alex's suggestion. Her young chest was tight with nervousness but just knowing Casey would be with her was enough of a security blanket for the sweet girl to feel confident enough to agree to letting Alex out of her sight.

"Me and Savannah, oh and of course George here are just going to watch Toy Story 2 so you can take your time. No rush." Casey proclaims brightly, her hazel eyes connecting with concerned blue ones across the hospital room.

There was as much reluctance from Alex to leave Savannah as there was from the young brunette and Casey could tell her slightly older co worker was in two minds about what was the best thing to do. The supposed 'Ice Queen' of the DA's office had definitely found her Achilles heel in this young, sweet girl but Casey was here to help them both and was going to make damn sure well she did exactly that.

'Once again Ms Novak knows what I need and want to hear without me having to so much as say a word.' Alex mentally comments in realisation just what a true help and comfort it was having this intelligent and caring woman offering such support to both herself and of course Savannah in these unusual circumstances.

Nodding her head in understanding, Alex waits an extra second until Savannah's attention is fully back on the phone before rising up from her seat and placing her coffee cup to the side table. It was already pretty much empty as the more experienced attorney had drained it fast of its much needed energy levels.

'Thank you.' Alex mouths out slowly to Casey as once more their eyes connect in the still rather dimly lit hospital room. Savannah was yet to want the lights turned on, the familiarity of the darkness perhaps an subconscious comfort for the eleven year old now she was awake and with the only two people she had grown any trust in.

Casey's hazel eyes were darker thanks to the low light but that didn't stop them shining directly into Alex's and causing an internal reaction of fuzziness spreading through the taller woman's chest and body overall. With just a single glance they spoke how Alex's thanks were un needed and at the same time told the strawberry blonde in return the thank you was for so much more than just staying with Savannah while she showered and changed.

Alone in the private adjoining bathroom of Savannah's hospital room, Alex is only too happy to let the warm water cascade down her aching body. Two days with next to no sleep had caused a mass of knots and pain to form in the tall, slim body of the long time ADA but it was nothing a fresh burst of hot water couldn't at least help.

It isn't until now, with the water droplets flowing down her bare skin that the over worked brain belonging to the tall, blonde, headstrong attorney finally allows her thoughts to drift onto the subject of Casey Novak properly.

'You made-out with her on the floor of a bathroom after sobbing into her blouse. Sure, you could put that down to the high emotions of the situation and your need to just feel something other than the crippling pain of what you had just learnt Savannah had been suffering through. Then again you could also claim it was due to the fact you have never felt such a sudden and heated attraction to anyone else in your entire life before.' Alex's inner voice opens with conflicting arguments and brings the beautiful blonde's eyes to close for a moment.

The gentle spray of warm water sprays across the high cheek bones and model worthy features of the long serving ADA, careful not to wet her hair due to the cold weather and lack of hair dryer in her current situation. It was an attempt to wash away these now confusing thoughts or perhaps just refocus her brain in order to come up with an answer to the unanswered questions Alex was struggling with over Casey and their interactions.

Lathering up the bar of soap, which Casey had purchased for her and running it over her body the blonde's thoughts suddenly switch to memories of the heated touches the younger attorney's hands and lips had made with Alex the night previous. If the circumstances surrounding their new found attraction weren't quite so surreal than it wasn't worthy of any debate on whether the two women would have already ended up in a sweaty, satisfied heap somewhere by now. Unfortunately for Alex's gnawing, animalistic urges and rapidly growing needs the circumstances were about as far away from 'normal' as you can possibly get.

This of course didn't mean that Alex's mind wasn't finding pleasure in the thoughts of 'what if's' and that ever soul crushing emotion of 'hope'. Just the very thought of what it would be like to take full advantage of the sizzling attraction between the two women was enough to have the tall, blonde's knees begin to weaken. The long time lawyer worked hard and long hours which meant physical release of pleasure and tension didn't come around all too often but she certainly didn't go without any. The fact was though, unlike her usual ability to silence her natural instincts with self pleasure or the occasional meaningless fumble, Alex was already aware what she was experiencing in reference to her fellow attorney wasn't going to be so easily dealt with.

'We barely know one another, granted not something I usually worry about. Hell, on a few occasions it has been a miracle if I have even caught a name. Technically though me and Casey are co-workers, that opens up a whole other Pandora's box of complications that I am sure neither of us are ready to delve in to.' Alex mentally surmises in a weak attempt to persuade herself what she was feeling in regards to the strawberry blonde wasn't worth the trouble it would cause and could be easily forgotten about.

Alexandra Cabot didn't do relationships, she didn't do emotions or feelings it just wasn't how the 'Ice Queen' was wired. The complications of having to weigh up another person's feelings, wants and needs was not something Alex had ever felt compelled to worry herself with and had made a strong, conscious effort to completely avoid.

'And yet you cannot stop thinking about her. You are grateful just for her company and you're smiling like a love sick puppy when you're watching her without her even knowing. What is going on right now Alex?' The ADA mentally chastises herself knowing deep down as brutal of an attack she laid on herself for her behaviour the festering, strong connection she was developing with Casey wasn't about to go away and she wasn't even sure she wanted it to. Fuck.

Now just the two of them in the hospital room, Casey has moved to take the seat beside the hospital bed while Savannah once more becomes engrossed with the images of another animated classic on the attorney's phone.

Savannah's eyes were still heavy, deep circles of tiredness underneath each one but something about the look behind those brown orbs was different today. Was the tragedy, the fear and years of abuse suddenly eradicated never to be seen again? Of course not but there was something new, a spark perhaps or just a glimmer of the eleven year old Savannah was desperate to be fighting to be seen? Whatever it was though, the fact it was there brought Casey's ruby lips into a smile that made her heart feel just a slightly bit warmer.

George the monkey was still tucked up underneath the skinny arm of the pre teen, Casey's phone propped up on the hospital table by a few of the books the slightly less experienced ADA had purchased for the young brunette the day previous. Hazel eyes were spending far more time checking in on Savannah than actually watching the movie but Casey couldn't help herself. Something about Savannah had stolen the prosecutor's heart and as they sit in the hospital room together, all the strawberry blonde can do is watch in pure admiration for the strength this child possessed.

"What… what will happen… to me now, Casey?" Savannah suddenly asks, her voice quiet and shaky but the meaning of her words as sharp as a knife.

The big, brown eyes of the eleven year old girl were fixed on the phone as she speaks and waits for her answer.. A safety measure in some ways to keep the question she asked from seeming too real or perhaps just out of fear from not knowing how Casey would react to it.

'I know I shouldn't ask questions but I need to know. I need to know when I'm going to have to go back home, to… to him. Even I know this won't last forever, even if I want it to.' Savannah's young mind concludes as her muscles tense from fear she had made a huge mistake of asking such a question.

For the young brunette daring to ask a question, to speak out and be heard when having not been asked too was a risk and one she normally wouldn't dare to take. For some reason though Savannah felt she had next to no other choice and now with Casey, someone she trusted at least somewhat, the eleven year old felt if she was ever going to get an answer to her question this was probably the best chance she had without receiving some kind of punishment instead.

Spinning her head around to face Savannah at a speed almost likely to break her neck, Casey feels her mouth open ready to speak but finds no words immediately come out. Just hearing such a heartbreaking question come from such an innocent, young girl was like a sucker punch for the strawberry blonde and momentarily steals her ability to respond.

After her much needed shower, Alex gets herself dressed into the clothing Casey had gathered for the normally pencil skirt and blazer clad attorney the night before. A baggy pair of sweatpants and oversized hoodie was a stark difference to the normal court apparel of Ms Cabot but a welcome change all the same. The biggest surprise and comfort came however as the blonde wondered if she was going to have to match her heels with a much less formal outfit. There in the bottom of the plastic bag, once again proving Casey's psychic abilities, were a pair of brand new and more importantly comfortable sneakers.

'She really did think of absolutely everything.' The blonde comments inwardly with a smile spreading across her face.

Once each foot is slipped into the comfort of a non toe crunching heel, Alex looks herself over in the reflection of the mirror and almost bursts out into laughter. This was the kind of look she would find herself in on laundry day, when alone in her brownstone on one of her rare days off. Never would the elegant, long time ADA allow herself to be seen dressed like this in the public but after the past twenty four hours especially, that self sense of pride and concern for other's opinions was next to nonexistent.

Throwing everything into the plastic bag now she was dressed and ready for the day ahead, as ready as she was ever going to be when having lost out on so much sleep. Alex goes to open up the bathroom door when her ears perk up at the sound of both Savannah and Casey's voices on the other side.

'Did Savannah just ask what is going to happen to her?' Panic strikes the tall woman's heart as her mind realises just what the young girl had asked.

Noticing the very obvious hesitation from the woman sat beside her, Savannah's body tenses and regret enters her heart like a curse. Brown eyes suddenly become moist with tears and the eleven year old finds herself even more reluctant to attempt a look towards Casey, terrified if she did she would be met with a look of anger.

"I'm sorry, never mind. I.. I .. I shouldn't have.. I'm sorry." Savannah panics rapidly, her voice cracking and stuttering from fear that she had just made a huge mistake.

Alex can hear Savannah's stuttering words and realises that the young girl is panicking and trying desperately to go back on the question she had just asked. It clearly was coming from a place of fear of having over stepped some kind of mark and has Alex's strong hand ready to push through the door and take control of the situation. Before the taller attorney is able to take a single step forward however a new sound fills the hospital room and this time it is Casey's raspy voice.

"Savvy, no honey it's okay. You did nothing wrong at all. Listen to me, it's okay just take a breath." Casey instructs Savannah softly, her head nodding along to each word she speaks as desperate hazel eyes attempt to make contact with brown ones through long, brown hair that was somewhat over Savannah's young face.

The instant back peddling attempt from the little, injured brunette had been enough to break Casey from her shackles of heartbreak and kick the ADA in to action. Her hand quickly reaches out and delicately rests on top of Savannah's in order to get the young child's attention focused back on her instead of the obviously crippling panic she is now experiencing.

A large gulp is forced down Savannah's throat as despite her instincts the small brunette allows her gaze to fall into line with Casey's. Instead of that expected rage she was so used to witnessing on adults features, Savannah is met with kind and caring, warm eyes just trying to connect with her.

'Is this a trick? She is pretending not to be mad at me just so when she eventually punishes me I won't have the chance to try and protect myself?' Savannah's suspicious mind wonders silently, years of firsthand experience teaching the eleven year old to always be weary of kindness, especially in these type of situations.

Alex was unmoving in the bathroom but her ear was pressing directly against the door in order to make out what was being said on the other side a little easier. Her heart was currently pounding inside her chest to the point it wouldn't be a surprise if both Savannah and Casey could hear it through the door. Despite wanting to rush in, the more experienced attorney was frozen in place and partly intrigued to find out just how her co worker was going to handle this easily fragile situation.

'Casey will know what to do. I'm not even sure if I went out there I would be any help anyway. Savannah has been through so much and now she is worrying about her future. That is not how any of this should be and yet her future is relatively uncertain all the same.' Alex's inner voice comments as she continues to remain silent and just listen.

A thick silence drapes the hospital room as all Savannah can manage to do is stare directly into Casey's hazel eyes and attempt to search for some kind of indication of how the older woman was truly feeling. People hid so much behind something as simple as a look and although most of her experiences were ugly ones, Savannah had found an ability in her to pick up on even the smallest of clues as to what someone may truly be thinking or feeling.

Casey's eyes were filled with many different emotions, some that Savannah was finding it difficult to decipher but the young brunette was very aware of what she wasn't finding in them. There wasn't an ounce of anger or betrayal locked in the eyes which fluxgate between vibrant greens and golden browns seemingly due to their owners current emotional state. Just because Savannah hid her own eyes from the world it didn't mean that she wasn't constantly watching, studying and taking note of everyone else's.

It takes a moment but cautiously the eleven year old begins to nod her head. It was a silent gesture to tell Casey she was indeed listening to whatever answer the strawberry blonde may have to offer her to her question.

"Well, for today at least you are going to watch the rest of Toy Story two, as long as you want to. Hell, we can even put on three afterwards too. Although if we do that you will have to be prepared to watch me cry like a blubbering baby at the ending." Casey explains, her voice light as she makes a mental note to try and keep this conversation as light as humanly possible.

Watching Savannah's reaction closely, the less experienced ADA feels her chest ache noticing despite her slight laugh the brunette wasn't about to be fobbed off so easily. Savannah's head tilts slightly to one side and through the curtain of dark hair, Casey is able to make out the questioning look coming from brown orbs.

'Clearly she is too smart for her own good and is going to force me to get into details. Why couldn't Alex be here for this?' Casey inwardly groans, fear creeping up inside her from not wanting to handle this terribly and just upset Savannah more.

By now Alex's hand is pushing just slightly on the bathroom door in order to make a crack big enough so she can actually get eyes on the situation the other side. Sapphire eyes are quick to notice the deep connection Savannah is in with Casey, their gazes each fixated on the other so likely a reason why the movement of the door goes un noticed.

'Maybe I should go out and give Casey some kind of help. I wouldn't want to have to face this on my own and would be silently pleasing for assistance.' Alex mentally notes as she readies herself to make her entrance but is once again stilled by the sound of a familiar raspy voice.

"Look, I'll level with you Savannah. The truth is right now you need to stay in hospital for a few more days at least, to get you a little stronger and more healthy. After that, well at some point Olivia is going to come back and need to talk to you some more but I promise you either me or Alex will be with you when that happens." Casey tries again, her voice calm and sincere both things that don't go un noticed by Savannah who faintly gives a nod of understanding in response.

Savannah's body flinches at the thought of having to answer more questions, the sheets beneath her getting yanked up by the eleven year olds free hand which wasn't being delicately patted by Casey. The reassurance of knowing one of the attorney's would be with her throughout the interaction does do its job in relaxing Savannah slightly once more though.

Never normally someone who was shy in speaking or just coming out with whatever had to be said, Casey finds her voice once again struggle to be heard. Just looking at the innocent and frightened expressions of this young girl though was causing the normally headstrong lawyer to falter.

"What… what about… after that? What… what… about when they… they let me… out of…here? I'll have to go back to.. to him won't I?" Savannah stutters out her fear filled questions before she chickened out. She could tell if she didn't push then Casey was likely going to try and just avoid the subject all together once more.

"What? Oh Savannah, sweetie no that will definitely not be happening." Casey replies instantly, her voice sharp from panic that this little girl was fearing she would have to be returned to her monster of a so called father.

Alex feels the same stab of pain hit her own heart, as it clearly did Casey's, at Savannah's words. This poor little girl shouldn't have to be worrying over the fact she may be forced to return to her father and yet she was. It was enough to spring stinging tears into the taller lawyer's orbs but Casey's instant reaction brings a smile of pride to her lips as she watches just how well the slightly less experienced councillor was handling this situation.

'Casey is magnificent with Savannah. It's actually kind of beautiful to witness.' Alex's mind comments as she makes another conscious decision to continue watching from her hidden spot behind the bathroom door.

Delicately but still very cautiously, Casey takes Savannah's hand fully in her grip. Savannah's smaller counterpart is trembling but the attorney pushes that to the back of her mind as she feels the child's hand grip onto hers securely. It wasn't really a squeeze, more of a clinging on attempt but whatever it is Casey's heart reacts to it all the same.

'She believes that after everything the doctors have seen and heard she will still have to be reunited with her father. This poor girl has no idea that no one in their right mind would ever allow that to happen. Just another side effect of the Captain's evil actions and their repercussions.' Casey's inner voice rants, the realisation that Savannah's way of thinking was so skewed and damaged making her heart drop.

The slightly less experienced lawyer shuffles herself to the very edge of the hospital chair and leans over the rail a little more so Savannah could see her easier and hopefully just feel her protective presence. A silent promise that the strawberry blonde wasn't about to let anything harmful happen to her perhaps or maybe just a subconscious action from Casey to calm her own pounding heart.

"Whenever it is that your father is found Savannah, you won't be going back to live with him. You won't even have to ever see him again if you don't want to. That is a promise that I swear to you, from me to you I will keep no matter what." Casey affirms, her hazel orbs staring directly into Savannah's chocolate brown eyes as they flicker back unshed tears behind strands of brunette hair.

"But where…. Where will I go… go then? I… I don't have… have… anywhere or… anyone else." Savannah whispers fearfully, the thought of being completely alone in the world almost more terrifying than whatever horrors she had lived through all of her life.

At least with her father Savannah had somewhere to sleep, she belonged and although often painful it was all she had ever known. The very idea of having to go somewhere new or having nowhere to go at all was terrifying on a completely different level for the eleven year old.

'What am I supposed to tell her? That she will likely end up in a group home because children of her age are hardly ever adopted. She might get lucky and be fostered by a decent family but is that really going to sound enticing to someone who has suffered what Savannah has?' Casey's mind frantically weighs up just what the strawberry blonde had to offer in her reply.

"You don't have to worry about any of that now Savvy. You need to focus on getting stronger." Alex answers for Casey as she can no longer keep herself hidden and emerges from the bathroom.

Long legs carry the beautiful blonde with purpose across the hospital room and both Casey and Savannah look over to her in slight shock at her sudden appearance. The two lawyers share a knowing nod as it doesn't take much for the younger of the two women to realise Alex had overheard the conversation and was struggling to answer Savannah as much as Casey had been.

"And let's not forget you need to worry about catching up on all these amazing films you haven't seen before." Casey interjects in an obvious attempt to deflect but she honestly didn't know what else she could say right now that wouldn't either frighten Savannah or break her own heart into a million tiny pieces.

Silence once more overcomes the hospital room, Savannah's face trying desperately to force out a smile but it wasn't working. The young brunette was far too aware what both Alex and Casey's non answers really meant and although wishing she could just pretend even Savannah knew her future was unknown.

Alex reaches the bedside and smiles sweetly towards Savannah but is met with doubtful brown orbs which only tear at the attorney's already shattered heart just a little bit more. This was a situation that was next to impossible to know how to handle correctly.

'Sure I can be honest with her, terrify her and probably cause her to just curl back into herself. Then again I could lie and give her some kind of false hope which is only going to mean Savannah will feel betrayed and never trust anyone ever again. Talk about a rock and a fucking hard place' Alex realises silently as now looking at this pre teen and her innocent features all confidence that she knew what to say is quickly lost.

Hazel eyes watch the registration take place on Savannah's young face as she realises both these women were struggling to give her an actual answer and Casey's heart constricts seeing such pain and confusion flash over this sweet girl's face.

"Hey, you listen to me okay, cowgirl? If you think that me or Alexandra the great are going to let you end up just anywhere then you are greatly mistaken. You don't need to worry about any of it because that is what me and Alex will do and we will make sure everything works out just how it is supposed to." Casey blurts out before any rational thought can even begin to formulate within the less experienced prosecutors mind.

Taken back by the unexpected reassurance of the stunning strawberry blonde whose hand her entire one is wrapped around, Savannah is left completely speechless. Her large brown eyes seem to grow wide as her mind attempts to weigh up the dependency of such a statement. The young girl's heart was desperate to accept it as truth, to believe that these two amazing women would somehow insure everything would be okay. At the same time though, her sceptical mind was hesitant to believe in such a fairytale after having been brought up surrounded by a stark contrasting reality.

Alex's eyes move from studying Savannah's face over towards Casey not entirely sure if her younger co worker had just saved the day or perhaps set the eleven year old up for an even bigger fall later on.

'Oh Casey, I hope you know what you are doing right now.' The taller woman's inner voice comments nervously, part of her filled with gratitude for how Casey had taken control of the situation and offered such reassurance and the other part of her deeply concerned it may have not been the wisest of moves.

Casey of course can feel the sapphire eye now burning into her with a thousand questions but the less experienced attorney does her best to block all of that out and just gives Savannah a reassuring smile.

Small lungs take in a deep breath as with her free hand, little fingers detangle from the scrunched up bed sheet and Savannah brushes back the hair from her young face completely. Brown eyes were locked in on Casey's hazel ones and once again searching for some kind of evidence that what she was being told could indeed be trusted.

"Do … do you promise?" Savannah asks cautiously, part of her heart resistant to say the words knowing that even if she got the answer she desperately wanted this could very easily be a promise no one could actually keep.

Alex feels her jaw drop at Savannah's very meaningful question. Sympathy suddenly crashes into the blonde's heart for Casey though realising her younger counter part was now stuck very much between a rock and a hard place herself. How in the hell was Casey supposed to answer?

'Fuck. I can't back down now, I need to promise this. If I do though I need to be prepared to do whatever has to be done to make sure I never, ever break it. This poor girl has been let down far too many times and I will not be just another name to that list.' Casey informs herself silently as with a final surge of strength the strawberry blonde nods her head. There was not a chance in hell she was going to let this young girl down now, not a damn chance.

"We both promise Savannah. Me and Casey both promise you that whatever happens we are going to make sure you are looked after and most importantly you never ever have to go back to your father." Alex interrupts, her words sincere and strong as for a brief moment she looks to Casey and gives a nod of her head.

Alex's blue eyes were soft with emotion and honest as they pour into Casey's hazel counterparts and the two women realise if anyone was going to make such a promise to Savannah then it was going to be the both of them.

Casey's jaw is now left to drop slightly as Alex throws herself on the grenade and decides to make this promise to Savannah with her. It wasn't something the long serving ADA had to do and yet she had all the same and it quickly brings Casey's hazel eyes to glaze over with thankful, unshed tears.

"You heard Alexandra the great, we both promise you Savvy." Casey adds with conviction as she glances back to a completely stunned Savannah and hazel eyes pour deeply into Savannah's and form a connection with the pre teen that was stronger than almost anything Casey had ever felt before in her life.

Nodding in tearful agreement to the promises which had just been made to her, Savannah squeezes Casey hand once more and this time manages to form a real smile. Her young eyes then move to Alex's sapphire ones and in return the blonde attorney takes hold of the young girl's other hand and intertwines their fingers securely.

"Thank you, both of you." Savannah whispers out with a voice choking on emotion as her little hands each grip just that much tighter on to the adult hands of the two attorney's either side of her hospital bed.

In that moment with unshed tears glimmering in three pairs of eyes within the private hospital room, not only had two promises been made to Savannah but without even knowing it a promise had been made between the two attorneys also. Whichever promise it was, one thing was without question, nothing in this world was going to cause any of them to be broken.

* * *

 ** _I was going to make this chapter like a double length one but I wrote this and thought it wrapped up fairly nicely. The next one will probably be the length of two though as will all following but I won't be updating anywhere near as often._**

 ** _If any of you are kind enough to leave me a review then thank you so much. Knowing what you are all wanting, thinking, suspecting and everything else truly helps keep me motivated but it also helps me with what to write next and where to take each chapter. I read every single one and take them on board so much more than I can ever say, so thank you in advance._**

 _ **Until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


	11. Strength Together

_**Hello all. (I say all but it may just be one so if it is, hey you!)**_

 _ **This chapter was a bit of a bitch to write but I want to thank my MEOW? Group for the help and support and also encouragement for me to continue. A big thank you also lies to those of you who took the time to review the last chapter. They really do mean so much and are such a huge reason for me continuing. I write this for you all to enjoy and getting your feedback is the biggest help in accomplishing that I can receive. So truly, if you have ever reviewed this story or do in the future…. THANK YOU!**_

 _ **So I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

" **Strength Together"**

It was nearing eleven in the morning by the time Doctor Jennings made her way to Savannah's room during her morning rounds. The raven haired doctor felt oddly nervous as she makes her way into the room, the very fact she knew Alexandra Cabot and her piercing blue eyes would be watching her every move had the doctor on edge.

"Good morning Savannah. Did you manage to get some rest last night? How are you feeling today?" The doctor asks kindly as she reaches the foot of the hospital bed and starts to inspect the chart to see how the eleven year old had been doing since her last visit.

The hospital chair beside Savannah's bed was occupied by a still drained looking Alexandra Cabot. Her glasses were assisting the blonde as her crystal blue eyes examine the numerous awaiting messages that had accumulated on her phone since she turned it off the night previous. The arrival of the raven haired doctor quickly steals the lawyer's full attention however and Alex is quick to offer Doctor Jennings a warm smile.

"I think she is a little pre occupied. Savannah, honey can you tell Doctor Jennings how you slept and how you're feeling please?" Alex tentatively instructs the brunette eleven year old whose entire focus was located solely on her colouring masterpiece.

After watching Toy Story 2 on Casey's phone, Savannah had decided to wait until another time to indulge in the third instalment. Instead the eleven year old was happily making use of the markers and colouring books the strawberry blonde attorney had gifted her to keep her occupied instead.

Savannah's up bringing meant that colouring wasn't something she possessed great experience with. There were a lot of things other children her age would consider simple or even second nature that to the brunette were almost alien. Luckily what Savannah lacked in experience she more than made up for with her determination, all evident in the way her button nose was slightly scrunched up and tongue protruding from the corner of her mouth from such deep concentration in order to keep within the lines.

Alex could tell Savannah had somewhat zoned out and so places her phone to the table, which draped across the hospital bed and was being used by the eleven year old as her work space. Cautiously and very gently, the long time ADA places her hand to Savannah's thin forearm and rubs up and down carefully until brown eyes lift from the colouring book and connect with Alex's waiting sapphire ones.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you sweetie but Doctor Jennings is here and just wants to know how you are feeling today." Alex explains kindly not wanting the presence of the doctor to cause the young girl any distress.

As expected Savannah freezes for a moment at the realisation it was no longer just herself and Alex in the hospital room. A pulse runs through the injured pre teen as her apprehension as to what the doctor could want with her starts to creep up through Savannah's body. Whenever Doctor Jennings had been around the day before it meant nothing but painful examinations, tests or a mix of both so it was understandable that the eleven year old wasn't welcoming the raven haired women with open arms.

Alex uncrosses her leg and leans forward a little more in the hospital chair, her hand sliding softly down Savannah's painfully thin arm before accepting a waiting hand into a protective grip. The child's skin was trembling, much how it had the day previous whenever Savannah's fear started to become too much.

"Savannah, I'm not here to take you to any tests today or anything like what happened yesterday. I really just want to know how you are feeling and maybe, if you will let me, check to see your bandages are all doing okay and don't need changing. Do you think that will be okay?" Doctor Jennings asks kindly, much like the blonde lawyer in the room she wanted to offer Savannah as much choice in these matters as humanly possible.

'Alex is with you and as long as there won't be any more tests you should be okay.' Savannah's inner voice evaluates the situation silently before allowing its owner to give a very faint nod of her head in agreement.

Feeling the assuring and now somewhat familiar stroking of her thumb bone by Alex's counterpart, Savannah takes a bold move and cautiously lifts her head from its bowed position in order to look more towards the doctor, even if behind her curtain of brown locks.

"I'm okay… thank you." The slightly shaky voice of the police Captain's daughter speaks up just loud enough for both Doctor Jennings and Alex to both break out into shocked but pride filled smiles.

'That's a girl. Small steps but she's making them all on her own.' Alex mentally praises the eleven year old before offering the pleasantly surprised doctor a nod of encouragement that she could continue with what she had come to do.

After finally being convinced to change out of her Toy Story pyjamas, all though she did so reluctantly, Casey had left Savannah and Alex alone in order to call Liz and hopefully receive some kind of an update from Olivia at the same time. So much had to be dealt with in regards to both ADA's and their work especially.

Luckily for Alex, she knew she had plenty of un used vacation days to fall back on and considering the circumstances wasn't overly worried she would be chewed out for missing another day of work. Casey however wasn't as certain she was safe and wanted to at least make a call to her boss and find out where the ground lay. The Harvard graduate was also interested in finding out just how much ass kissing she was going to have to venture in so she'd be able to continue helping and supporting both Alex and Savannah.

"I am sure Alex will be grateful for that Liz. You should see how she is with Savannah and the benefit just her presence is having also." Casey somewhat boasts about her co worker after their joint boss explains she was going to give Alex at least two weeks off from work.

'Try and curb your cheerleading here Casey. If anyone is likely to pick up on it and think it odd behaviour it is going to be the woman you are currently talking to. Get it together Novak.' Casey internally coaches herself, for a moment her growing admiration for Alex clouding her thinking.

"As for you Casey…" Liz continues, expertly causing panic sweat to rise on Casey's porcelain skin and dread to fill the strawberry blonde's stomach all at once.

'This is where I get cussed out for over stepping my bounds and not showing up to work this morning. Well, not much I can do now other than just grit my teeth and hope I have a job at the end of it.' Casey mentally prepares herself for the perceived backlash she is about to face for her choice of actions.

"You don't have court today or tomorrow and considering this case and its priority I think it would be more useful for you to be exactly where you are. Keep me informed on anything you find out and please do send my regards to young Savannah. Tell Alex I will be in touch sometime next week and to at least try and relax." Liz follows up almost knowing the slight pause in her sentence had nearly caused her ADA a heart attack. She couldn't be too easy on the younger woman after all, it was her job to keep these lawyers on their toes at all time.

"I will do that Liz, thank you. I'll speak to you later." Casey replies, the shock evident in her raspy voice as she almost questions if what she had heard was indeed true and not just the repercussion of the ungodly amount of caffeine she had already consumed this morning.

Hanging up the phone call, hazel eyes notice that after Savannah's latest Toy Story experience her phone battery was once again in need of a recharge. It was quickly getting to midday and the strong willed attorney could both feel and hear her stomach rumbling. It wasn't a shock considering the only fuel she had consumed in nearly a day was pure caffeine.

As prepared as Ms Novak had been the night before in providing appropriate clothing for both Alex and Savannah today, sadly Casey did not have the same forethought for herself. Stuck back into her business attire, uncomfortable heels and all, the Harvard law graduate quickly flicks to Olivia's name in her contact list and hits call. Her battery would be on its last legs but surely it would survive this conversation before the hazel eyed beauty went on the hunt for some kind of sustenance.

"Olivia, hey it's Casey. I just wanted to call in and see if you've gotten any further or something to do with what I showed you yesterday has become clearer?" Casey quickly gets to the reasoning behind her call, her need for food starting to somewhat cloud her mind.

Standing beside one of the vending machines all hospitals are littered with like taunting décor, Casey's free hand brushes at her skirt trying to look like she hadn't spent the night asleep on the floor. The tall woman was drained and fighting off a constant yawn but this was hardly unusual for the hardworking ADA.

On the other end of the call, Olivia was sat at her desk having just had a catch up meeting with both Fin and Carisi over what they had learned. The experienced lieutenant had been expecting this call but she had to admit her money would have been on it being Alex Cabot's voice she heard instead of her younger co workers.

"Hey Casey, how is Savannah doing? Better then when I left her I hope, I almost couldn't sleep last night because I felt so guilty." Olivia replies, the genuine concern for the eleven year old present in her need for an update on her.

The brunette cop had always had a infinity with children and since becoming a mother herself her abilities to connect with the younger humans had only become stronger. She was a natural, had those instincts of maternal behaviour which almost flowed from the now fifty year old woman.

"Savannah is doing really good, she slept well and little by little she's coming out of her shell. She's a great kid Olivia. Alex told me what happened but honestly you shouldn't be beating yourself up about it. Savannah is resilient beyond words. I also don't think she's the kind to hold a grudge." Casey answers, adding a joke in at the end sensing that the lieutenant needed some light heartedness due to the guilt she as experiencing because of having upset Savannah the day before.

An almost reluctant smile spreads across Olivia's face at the witty and sarcastic remarks from the prosecutor she had worked with only a handful of times. She sits back in her chair now a little more comfortable having heard that Savannah was doing better.

"Thankfully all kids are Casey, unfortunately in these kind of situations they have to be." Olivia surmises with a regret filled sigh leaving her lungs mixed with that wave of relief from hearing Savannah's update.

Casey feels her heart sink and shoulders slump at the very brutal but honest assessment from the long time cop and is unable to make any kind of a verbal response.

'To think both Alex and Olivia have been surrounded by these type of cases for years now. I have tried a hand full of SVU cases and apart from one, none have involved a child. How these people manage to do their job and not kill these evil bastards I will never know,.' Casey's inner voice remarks, her heart full of pride and admiration for the work both Alex and the SVU did on a daily basis.

"Now uh as far as any update on the case, we're combing through CCTV and looking in to the Captain's background. So far we're coming up empty to be honest with you, the crime lab are looking at the blood and are fairly sure it's Victors. There are no foreign fingerprints or anyone else's DNA in the house that we have found yet. Whoever did this knew what they were doing and were extremely focused on getting the Captain." Olivia explains, her voice echoing the sinking sensation that hits the strawberry blonde attorney on the other end of the phone.

Casey's curvaceous hip rests against the side of the vending machine, her feet crossing at the ankles as her free hand reaches up and pushes back her long hair from her face. It was still early days in to the investigation but for Savannah's sake Casey had been hoping for something to at least help in finding the sick freak so he could be brought to justice for what he had done to the poor, innocent young girl who was supposed to be his child.

"What we have learnt is, although normally private and someone who keeps to himself, Victor is known to be very close with Captain Delany and another Captain from the five-five. Captain…. Russo. Now no one knows much more than they came through the ranks together but it's at least somewhere to look a little deeper" Olivia reveals, her thick rimmed glasses slipping down from the top of her head as she reads over the new information in front of her.

"Delany huh? I got to say Liv, that guy gave me the creeps yesterday and stunk like a brewery. Have um, you thought of what to do about the other stuff?" Casey tentatively asks about the information she found in the folder not sure how safe it was for Olivia to discuss it so being careful with her words.

Olivia's brown eyes look out over her large, wooden desk and out into the office where her team were all working. She trusted each and every one of them with her life but considering the bizarre situation this case was wrapped up in she wanted to be careful. A lifetime of experience was telling the brunette that somewhere along the line in this case they were going to be met with some kind of police cover up or corruption. For anyone, just delving into that minefield could be potentially career threatening so Olivia wasn't going to involve anyone until she could be absolutely sure what they were facing.

"Well, I have a friend that I can trust from one PP and they are going to get back to me. It's all on the down low right now but I have a feeling something is going to come up and when it does, it will likely be a storm." Olivia explains, her glasses now being removed from her face and placed delicately on top of the file she had previously been reading from.

This information causes Casey's posture to change entirely. Suddenly her back becomes straight and she grows to her full height. Once leaning against the side of the vending machine she is now stood at attention with her phone gripped just that little bit tighter in her hand.

"Thank you for doing this Olivia. I mean, I am aware it is your job but I have been around long enough to know that there are some police who would much rather bury this than stick their necks out. I just want you to know I both respect and appreciate it." Casey softly offers her gratitude to the long time cop who was as true and honest as they come.

Back in Savannah's hospital room, Doctor Jennings finishes her inspection of the young brunette's numerous injuries. Although still tensed and using Alex's hand as her support system, Savannah had gotten through the examination relatively easily. There was no doubt she was in pain with even the slightest of movements or touches but just like the day before not a single sign of any of this could been heard or seen from the young girl.

"Well, everything looks good. Nice and clean and is starting to heal. That's great news. Your hydration levels are strong so we will be taking you off of the IV a bit later today so you don't have to lug that thing around anymore." The raven haired doctor begins to explain her findings after adjusting Savannah's final bandage around her wrist.

Now no longer being touched, poked or prodded, Savannah slowly pulls her arm back more towards her and quickly tucks George safely in the crook of her elbow. Just feeling the soft material of the toy against the skin of her cheek brought the eleven year old a feeling of comfort.

"Now you still need to rest. Your body has been through a lot and you're probably going to want to sleep a lot but don't fight it. When we sleep is when our body does its best healing and if you feel you need a nap, take it." Doctor Jennings adds, her words gentle but pointed, mainly towards Alex who had to resist from getting out a pad and pen and writing this all down.

The model worthy blonde's hand was still protectively surrounding the smaller and fragile counterpart belong to the little girl whose bed she was standing beside. Alex couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she was starting to need this connection with Savannah more than the eleven year old did.

"Oh I can assure you she will be getting plenty of rest. Have there been any updates on when she will be able to be released?" Alex questions somewhat tentatively, her free hand just delicately rubbing over Savannah's shoulder.

'I have to know what is going on with Savannah's release so I can start to figure out just what I am going to do about CPS. Not that they have shown their faces as of yet.' Alex's sharp words remain contained to her inner thoughts but still her question hung in the air. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Savannah in anyway but at the same time the lawyer in Alex was impatient and hated being out of control.

Brown orbs peek out sneakily through the curtain of long hair that covered them as Savannah hears the mention of her impending release from the hospital. Although both Alex and Casey had reassured her they would handle it, Savannah was aware enough to know life was never that simple or easy. The young girl's heartbeat starts to increase as unspoken words are exchanged across her bed from the raven haired doctor and a intimidating Alexandra Cabot.

"Well, as long as she keeps improving at this rate I don't see why she can't be released by Tuesday, fingers crossed." Doctor Jennings reveals, her tone hopeful as her eyes give a reassuring glance to a tense Savannah.

The doctor's words hang in the air for a moment, Alex sensing like Savannah that the short dark haired woman was gearing up to say more. The nervous twitch within her eyes were a dead giveaway, that and the fact she seemed to almost take a conscious step back and away from the tall prosecutor.

"Of course before then someone from children's services will be along to … well assess the situation and discuss exactly where Savannah will be placed." Doctor Jennings cautiously continues, the hesitation present in every word she speaks as they squeak from her suddenly dry throat.

A cold shiver shudders down Alex's spine as the young girl beside her flinches and almost gives the beautiful blonde's hand a squeeze but just about manages to refrain in doing so. Just knowing this conversation was eliciting such a reaction from the brunette has the long time ADA regretting her choice to have this conversation now of all times.

'I need to get this information and end this conversation as quickly as possible. Then I can sit down with Savannah and try and explain how this is all going to work.' Alex's inner voice formulates a plan as Doctor Jennings gives almost an apologetic glance across the hospital bed.

"Is there any update on when someone will actually be turning up? If it wasn't for myself and Casey, well…" Alex bites her tongue midway through her rant knowing this was only going to cause the eleven year old upset.

No matter how bitterly angry the model worthy lawyer was there was no reason to do anything to cause Savannah any more distress. The children services worker would get the tail end of her tongue whenever they decided to show up.

"Actually, I got a call this morning that someone should be coming today." Doctor Jennings answers cautiously, her eyes flickering back and forth between crystal blue ones and hidden brown orbs behind Savannah's curtain of hair.

Just like that all of the ADA's attention turns to Savannah, the small, traumatized child who is now retreating back into her protective shell. Alex turns so fast how she doesn't cause herself whiplash she'll never know. Her top half bends over the hospital bed and quickly a delicate hand is being placed on Savannah's bowed head.

"Me and Casey will be with you. Remember what we both promised okay?" Alex whispers tenderly into the shell of Savannah's ear. Her own heart was currently sinking down deeper by the second as the impending fear was all but radiating from this poor child who has already suffered so incredibly and bravely.

All movement and sound in the hospital room stills, even the doctor was frozen in place. This was a private moment and she was intruding and yet for some reason, the raven haired doctor could not help herself in closely observing what was taking place.

Savannah's, delicate, small hand encased in Alex's larger counterpart slowly runs her thumb up the blonde's thumb bone and gives a faint nod of her head. It was her version of agreeing, a silent gesture to say she was on board and yet it was still filed with her apprehension and understandably so. For the young girl to have the courage to trust anyone, even slightly said more about her spirit than anything else ever could. Alex was determined she was not about to allow this girl's courage and trust get broken.

"I believe you … both of you." Savannah's quiet voice squeaks out as the eleven year olds head rises just enough to make some obstructed eye contact with her blonde saviour.

The all too familiar stinging sensation of fast approaching tears pricks at the crystal blue eyes of the tall prosecutor. Never before had she felt such a responsibility for another human being and it was honestly terrifying and at the same time the most fulfilling sensation Alex had ever known. With a nod of her head, a withheld breath to contain her tears, Alex reaches with her free hand and just delicately cups Savannah's cheeks as their eyes connect even through misting glasses and strands of sheltering hair.

By the time the afternoon had officially arrived, Doctor Jennings had left to see her other patients and Alex had spent her time sat quietly bedside of a napping Savannah. The examination from the doctor had wiped the young brunette out, well that along with everything else she had been through.

Sat in the now familiar seat, just as uncomfortable as ever, Alex has one leg crossed over the other and her phone resting in her hand on her lap. The gorgeous blonde had been attempting to reply to a few messages and catch up on some emails for work but it was next to impossible. Alex's mind was not on work or anything else other than the eleven year old who had sent her life into a complete tornado.

Sapphire eyes were forever glancing across to the peaceful looking brunette as her body finally rested. George was tucked under her right arm with his head neatly nestled underneath Savannah's chin. Every little rise and fall of her chest was like a relief to Alex, a sign that this young girl was still hanging on and surviving.

'She's made it this far, somehow on her own. I will be damned if she ever has to face a day alone again.' Alex's inner voice promises sternly, her stomach turning at the very thought of this traumatized child being left to fend for herself in any way again.

Suddenly the hospital room door is pushed open and a strong smell of food floats inside. Casey had both hands full, one clutching at several paper bags filled to the brim and the other expertly balancing a four cup holder. The younger attorney's ruby lips were spread wide in a grin as hazel eyes connect with the confused counterparts belonging to Alex across the room.

The food was clearly some kind of fast food but that didn't stop it's scent enticing a napping eleven year old clean out of her sleep. Savannah's eyelids flicker open almost instantly and her injured body eagerly attempts to pull itself into a more sitting position to find out just what was going on around her.

"Hey Savvy, I didn't mean to wake you cowgirl. But, I do have a treat for you. Now I know this is against the rules but what will they do 'Take me to court'?" Casey asks rhetorically as she finally manages to squeeze her curvaceous frame through the door while keeping everything perfectly balanced. Waiting those tables during Law School really had paid off in more ways than one.

Alex feels a smirk rising on her lips as the stunning strawberry blonde finally seems to get herself settled enough to approach the bed. It was only now the slightly older woman had connected eyes with Casey that Alex realised just what her co worker's plan was with this food.

'She is going to get us kicked out of here. I just know it.' Alex mutters within the confines of her mind, secretly admiring this other woman's carefree attitude, in this situation at least.

"Hospital food is great and all but I thought you deserved something a little more… well honestly something that tastes better. So, I have here a selection of Burger Kings' finest meals for you to try and find out which you like best. Oh and to top it off a banana shake, just don't let George steal any." Casey explains cheerfully.

The tall prosecutor is quick to place the drinks and food onto Savannah's bed table before turning her attention onto an oddly quiet blonde now standing on the opposite side. Alex's face was almost impossible to read at this moment, her eyes pointed and clear and yet cheeks slightly raised, almost in a form of a smile. Almost.

'This could either mean she wants to kiss me or wants to throttle me. Eh, either way I'd probably be happy with the outcome.' Casey mentally quips, she'd resigned herself to accept her consequences for this choice of action long before now.

"I got you a strawberry shake and a chicken royale." Casey reveals as an offer towards the elegant woman still staring her down over the hospital bed. Somehow Alex was able to make sweats look not only attractive but somehow classy as well.

"Did you add cheese and mayo?" Alex replies in a serious tone, her stance straight and arms folded neatly under her chest.

Realising this was a sign of her win Casey lets out a cackle of a laugh before nodding in acknowledgement. The aforementioned food is quickly handed across to the more experienced ADA, who nods her head in gratitude and surprises herself with how quickly she is to unwrap her food and take a large bite of it. After nearly two days of a less than adequate diet the slim framed blonde forgets everything about eating manners her mother had taught her. In contrast she finds her tongue poking out to lick off escaping mayo from her long fingers, not wanting or willing to lose out on any of her meal.

"Thank you, you're a life saver Casey. I think I actually forgot to eat again." Alex chimes out, her mouth half full with food which shocks both her fellow attorney and the watching eleven year old in the hospital bed.

'Who would have thought Alexandra Cabot was a foodie?' The slightly shorter of the two high powered lawyers mentally comments before turning all attention back towards a wide eyed Savannah.

The strawberry blonde pierces Savannah's milkshake with a straw and holds its chilly cup out towards the dumbfounded brunette with sparkling hazel eyes. Casey was excited to see Savannah indulge in this treat and hopefully memorize every little reaction.

Slowly Savannah's hand which had once housed the fluid IV, reaches out and takes ownership of the offered drink. A strong gulp slides down her throat as her other hand is quickly brought up to help take the weight and bring the cup to her own plump lips. It was clear the eleven year old was curious but unfortunately also painfully obvious she was anxious too.

Alex halts her own consumption of food and observes the cautious movements from the young brunette. Was this a step too far for Savannah to handle? Suddenly the taller woman's stomach felt ready to drop through to the basement of the hospital.

"Thank… thank you." Savannah's soft voice squeaks out, surprising both adults beside her bed as her brown orbs lock onto the awaiting straw the closer she manages to bring the drink to her lips.

Slowly Savannah's lips lock around the straw and after a second of hesitation she takes a sip of the cold beverage. Both Alex and Casey hold their breath, on tender hooks as to how the banana flavoured shake was going to sit with this deprived child in what they guessed was her first experience with such a thing. As the first sip slides down her throat and the taste lingers for a moment in Savannahs mouth a bright smile rapidly spreads across her face and she quickly goes back for another sip. It was a success.

'Oh thank the Burger King, she likes it.' Casey's inner voice breathes a sigh of relief before sharing a knowing look with an equally relieved lawyer across the hospital bed.

The meal is consumed in record time by all three dinner guests, both Casey and Alex keeping a close eye on the amount Savannah consumes though. The young girl's body wasn't used to this kind of food and the last thing they wanted was for her first experience to result in sickness. Thankfully for an eleven year old Savannah didn't have eyes bigger than her belly but she clearly enjoys every last bite which at the end of the day was all that mattered.

A comfortable silence had now overcome the private hospital room, Casey was informing Alex on what Liz and Olivia had both said. She'd left out the information that had been found in the folder of Captain Delany but the strawberry blonde knew it would need to be mentioned at some point in the near future. They were sat together by Savannah's bed, Casey had dragged in a plastic chair from the hallway while Alex took residence in the room's large chair.

After enjoying her first taste of fast food and especially her banana shake, Savannah's eyes had once again grown heavy and with a little coaxing from Alex, the eleven year old had finally given in and closed her eyes for another nap. Doctor Jennings said to expect the brunette to need to sleep a lot and not to worry, it was her body's way of healing and if anything they should encourage it as much as possible.

"Doctor Jennings said someone from children's services would be making an appearance today." Alex reveals in a matter of fact tone. She was careful to keep her voice volume low, waking or disturbing Savannah the last thing she wanted.

Just blurting the information out was an attempt by the striking blonde to hide her emotions but Casey saw straight through it and instinctively finds her hand resting on the taller woman's knee. The warmth of her fingers pressing against the sweat pants the offer of support Alex hadn't been aware she needed.

"Okay, well when they get here we will make sure they know Savannah isn't going to be placed into any group home." Casey retorts, her words as strong and confident as they would be in an opening or closing statement.

It is as the younger woman is speaking that Alex's eyes notice that flicker of change in Casey's eye colour. Her emotions controlled which flash would be ignited and Alex couldn't help but find herself intrigued by just what each slight shade and tint meant or represented.

"The problem is Casey we don't have any say, not legally anyway. The fact we are both here is down to our stubbornness and the fact Doctor Jennings seems to be intimidated by me." Alex reveals, a heavy sigh leaving her lungs at this predicament. They'd been avoiding it but no longer was there time to avoid such an important aspect, it needed to be faced and faced head on.

Delicate finger tips push in slightly as Casey grips around the other woman's knee, a sign of her fear or perhaps just a need to hold onto the beautiful blonde attorney? The pressure causes Alex's mouth to grow dry but she doesn't resist or attempt to remove it, instead her own hand finds a new place, resting over the top of her co worker's.

Casey's eyes drift up from watching a sleeping Savannah and lock in with sapphire counterparts as Alex's touch sends a direct shiver to her chest. It is a reaction the strawberry blonde attempts to disguise but knows just by the way Alex is staring at her, the slightly older woman has recognised it and likely even knows what she is thinking too.

'God damn it, those eyes can see straight into my soul.' Casey vents inwardly as she tries to keep herself on track with their current conversation.

"Well, we're ADA's and Savannah has no other family or guardians. I'm sure with the right persuasion we can make it so Savvy has somewhere safe to go." The younger of the two women surmises, her tone attempting to be upbeat but not making it much past a groan.

Hearing the slightly less experienced lawyer attempt to be positive causes Alex's heart to flutter slightly in her chest. Casey had a way about her which was like a breath of fresh air for the over worked, stressed 'Ice Queen'. In all honesty the leggy blonde knew without her fellow lawyer she wouldn't have made it through the past two days.

"Just the very thought of her being in the system at all breaks my heart though." Casey regretfully adds, every word that falls from her ruby lips feeling like a form of betrayal.

Alex forcefully closes her eyes, the earlier flood of tears she's experienced now coming back with a vengeance. Shaking her head lightly, the always together attorney sucks in a shaky breath as her hand grips just that much harder around Casey's.

Almost able to feel the stinging tears welling up in the other woman's crystal blue eyes Casey turns in her seat and uses her free hand to cup Alex's perfect cheekbone. The feeling of soft fingertips grazing her pale skin, just enough to earn Alex's eyes to open up fully and lock in on hazel counterparts now mere inches in front of her.

With her own expression holding back her bubbling emotions, hazel orbs swimming with yet to be cried tears, Casey lifts her trembling thumb and traces it just underneath Alex's glasses. The slightest sensation of moisture under her thumb pad causes a quiver to run across ruby lips but somehow the younger attorney holds it together.

"We made her a promise and… I don't care what children's services say or do, we won't be breaking it. Nothing, absolutely nothing is going to stop me from making sure that little girl is safe and happy. Nothing." Casey assures sternly, her voice merely a whisper which actually touches Alex's skin as it carries in the silent hospital room.

Despite the conviction behind her softly spoken words, determination engrained in her sentiment Alex can all but feel the tremor which is pulsating through the other woman's chest and heart. The blonde attorney found herself able to recognise such a well hidden reaction only because she was experiencing the exact same thing.

A soft sigh escapes Alex's lungs, her hand still gripping on top of Casey's which was covering her knee. The two lawyers were keeping their close proximity, each of them perched on the edge of their seat as they stare into one another's eyes. Softly the model worthy blonde runs her free hand across the one belonging to Casey, which was cupping her cheek. Long, delicate fingers brush over ivory skin like a feather and tiny sparks of electricity from the faint contact reverberates through both drained beauties.

"You now Casey through all of this you've managed to keep it all together remarkably well. The thing is, I've witnessed firsthand the connection you've formed with Savannah." Alex reveals pointedly, her fingers locking securely around Casey's hand and giving it a tender squeeze.

For a brief moment, the younger ADA's lungs forget how to work. Her hazel eyes freeze and all of her senses become dulled to the point it is as if she is drifting.

'Why do I suddenly feel like I am on the stand giving testimony but at the same time being seduced?' Casey mentally questions her conflicting emotions as her eyes attempt to read the supposed 'Ice Queen' of the DA's office.

"I know you care about her. I've seen the way you light up around her. The way you watch her reactions and feel her emotions." Alex continues, her words catching in her throat as she blinks the threatening tears back into place.

The tall, elegant lawyer edges even closer to the edge of her seat. One hand is still covering the top of Casey's on her knee and the other just delicately holding the hand cupping her face. In this moment everything else around them was a blur, their own conscious presence being in front of the other.

"I'm scared too Casey, terrified in fact. I don't believe I have ever known a fear like I feel at just the thought of this children services person arriving and possibly taking that little girl away from me, from… us." The blue eyed beauty forces out each word, the brimming tears behind her glasses now having blurred any semblance of vision.

Just hearing Alexandra Cabot so effortlessly summing up the exact emotions the younger ADA was feeling has Casey stumped for a reply. The glimmer of a tear drop escaping the resisting barriers of Alex's eyes however is a shot to the heart the strawberry blonde could barely withstand.

The already placed thumb reaches up in one swipe and absorbs the fallen tear. The movement earns an embarrassed closing of crystal blue eyes as Alex's head begins to bow. Casey however anticipates this reaction and just grips a little more firmly to the taller woman's cheek and tugs it back up. Shakily Alex's pink lips open just enough to release a gasp as her eyelids open from the silent request by the slightly younger lawyer mere inches in front of her.

"You're right." Casey admits bluntly, her voice cracking with the tear filled breath her lungs manage to pass.

A large lump was lodged firmly within the strawberry blonde's throat and her own warm, trickle of tears were now descending her pale, concerned face. Any chance she may have had of stepping back, not becoming emotionally involved in this case was now well and truly in the wind. Truthfully, it had been even before the stunning lawyer had met this young girl caught up in the middle of all this.

Alex's hand, which until now had been happily settled on top of Casey's, moves up and with curled fingers traces the perfect cheekbone of the younger woman, all while removing the warm, track of tears with soft fingertips. A hint of a smile pulls up the corner of Alex's rosy lips as her piercing blue eyes turn into a shade of deep blue while connecting once more with hazel counterparts.

"I always am." Alex replies playfully, the hint of a laugh lingering as she gives and understanding nod of her head. Her own eyes were still brimmed to capacity with tears and Casey could feel the other woman's fear, worry and helplessness just through the shared gaze.

Silence overcomes the two lawyers and suddenly the resolve to keep their tears concealed melts away like and ice cube left in the sun. Quickly the stream of tears is running from both sets of eyes and yet an oddly optimistic smirk lingers across both sets of lips.

Casey scoots as far to the edge of her seat as humanly possible without just being crouched. Her hand that was still gripping around Alex's knee slides slowly upwards until it reaches the slim, hoodie covered waist of the tall blonde in front of her. Just the warm presence of her hand holding onto her waist causes Alex's breath to shorten. Dancing fingers press through the thick material of the hoodie until Casey is able to reach around the other woman's hip enough and draw her in closer.

Without any thought of resistance the slightly taller woman goes with Casey's request and comes to the very edge of her own seat. By now they are nose to nose, each hunched over and becoming lost in mesmerizing orbs. The tears were still flowing, much slower now though, just random drops like from a not fully turned off faucet. Neither Alex or Casey were paying attention to the sensation of the water rolling across their skin and dropping off into their laps. Their focus in this moment was solely on one another and nothing was going to break that.

"I don't think I've ever admitted to anyone that I've been scared before." Casey admits, her voice croaking from emotion.

Alex sniffles faintly in response, her head nodding in understanding on a level she was sure even the younger ADA wouldn't fully comprehend. Her hand which was gripping Casey's slides down to her wrist and then delicately pulls the other woman's hand palm up towards her rosy lips. The kiss is delicate, light but lingers. Casey can feel every slight movement of the beautiful blonde's lips as they make contact with her palm. Even the small, delicate breath that leaves Alex's lungs tickles ivory skin as hazel eyes shut momentarily to savour the moment.

"I'm here Casey and I'm not going anywhere." Alex assures, her grip on Casey's wrist moving gently back to the strawberry blonde's hand. Their fingers automatically intertwine and the shorter woman's eyes pop back open to meet sincere, blue counterparts.

"Savannah, she's spent her entire life being let down and forgotten about. I-, we will be the change to that, together." Alex continues in a whisper as the stunning woman in front of her nods faintly just as a single tear drops from her chin down to the gripping hands of both lawyers.

Sensing what was about to happen, the slightly older of the two ADA's moves completely from her seat and uses her long, strong arms to wrap around the natural redhead as she crumbles in front of her. Casey's head lands against Alex's shoulder and the two women find themselves one more wrapped together while sat on a hospital floor. Perhaps it was just their thing?

* * *

 _ **This chapter came to a natural conclusion so I didn't want to force anything else in sort of speak. I was going to make the chapter longer but when it came together like it did it seemed kind of poinhtless to do so.**_

 _ **Next chapter is going to be the meeting with the children's servives agent so that should vbe very interesting and we finally, finally may get poor Savannah out of that hospital bed. O look forward to seeing what happens next and I hope to see you there.**_

 _ **If any of you do review, thank you so much and please never feel shy in letytinbg me know what yoy're thinking, feeling, wanting and all in between. Honestly the more detailed of a review I receive the better. They are such a help to me and this story so if you do, thank you once again.**_

 _ **I do have another CALEX story up actually. It's rated M so it won't just come up in a usual search unless you have it marked to do so. It is called Cabot-Novak : Case Histories. It's a one shot series based around their relationship and family life through all different time periods and occasions. The first two chapters have SMUT so you know disclaimer for that lol. Anyway, if you are interested give it a look, I would be more than interested to know what you all think, feel and so on about it. Also never feel shy in leaving a prompt or idea for it as I'm always open to suggestions.**_

 _ **Enough of me I think**_

 _ **Until next time stay safe, happy and well ;;'x**_


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